CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. SAFETY

Firefighters battle wildfires throughout southern California.   

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Robert H. Nelson on California’s history of wildfires and poor land management:

“The wildfires that blackened more than 1,200 square miles of Southern California [in 2003] were not simply ‘acts of nature.’ For most of the 20th century, the Forest Service has failed to manage our national forests properly while treating fire as a virtual moral evil (the California fires [burned] in or near four national forests). Unless these policies are reversed, fires that consume millions of acres and inflict billions of dollars in damage will become more and more common.”

2. BUSINESS

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposes a bailout fund for banks hit by the poor performance of mortgage-backed securities.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on why greater government interference will only make things worse:

“If the Treasury Department hoped its meddling would reassure the markets, it failed. As the Economist notes, ‘stock markets fell on the day of the announcement. To some, the Treasury’s participating signaled that things were worse than feared.’ It was the same kind of clumsy attempt to manipulate the markets that occurred during the Hoover Administration and the first couple years of the Roosevelt Administration, which exacerbated and lengthened the Great Depression. We’re not in for a repeat of the Great Depression — especially since many of our trading partners are doing quite well — but a recession is possible, and government meddling that vainly seeks to prevent a market correction will only make it worse.”

3. ENVIRONMENT

The Cooler Heads Coalition re-launches GlobalWarming.org.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman on the re-designed website:

“We expect the new website will be an excellent resource for researchers and reporters. The material is also presented in a way that non-experts can feel comfortable with. Anyone with an interest in climate change can find material relevant to their needs.”

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-331-2273 or email to [email protected].