CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce investigates the privacy concerns and commercial possibilities of radio frequency ID (RFID) tags.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology promises many consumer benefits. With RFID, goods on trucks, in trains, and in warehouses can be inventoried without unloading and digging through pallets and packaging. Embedded in or attached to consumer products, RFID can improve customer convenience by permitting receipt-free returns and suppressing post-sale theft. As a personal identification device, RFID already enables keycard holders to quickly enter secure buildings and pass through toll gates.
2. LEGAL
A local school official in the UK sues to keep Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth from being shown in government schools without a rebuttal.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on the outcome of the case:
“The British government decided that it would be a good idea to send copies of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth to all schools, with then Environment Secretary (now Foreign Secretary) David Miliband declaring that “the debate over science is over.” Well, it may be, but not in the way Gore portrays it. A truck driver and school governor, Stuart Dimmock, took the government to court, alleging that the film portrays “partisan political views,” the promotion of which is illegal in schools under the Education Act 1996. The judge has decided that this is indeed the case and that the Government’s guidance notes that accompanied the film exacerbated the problem.”
3. ENVIRONMENT
Refiners lobby for expanded government mandates on the use of ethanol.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on new research into the effects of current biofuels policies:
“A new report by the International Trade & Agriculture Policy Council (IPC) examines the ‘early lessons’ from U.S. and EU biofuels policy. The report’s language is bland, but the gist is clear. U.S. and EU policies are protectionist pork for the benefit of domestic farm interests. This vitiates their environmental value and discourages technological innovation.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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