CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. ENVIRONMENT

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell proposes new energy taxes to combat global warming.   

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis analyzes the Dingell proposal:

“Dingell offered his proposed legislation as one element of a package that also includes ‘an economy-wide cap-and-trade program.’ Economists generally view carbon taxes and cap-and-trade as competing alternatives, not as complementary. Indeed, from a climate skeptic’s viewpoint, a carbon tax has redeeming social value only if it replaces all climate-related regulation—not just cap-and-trade but also renewable portfolio standards, biofuel mandates, and fuel economy standards.”

2. INTERNATIONAL

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee considers the UN Law of the Sea treaty.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio reports on yesterday’s hearing:

“The most incisive, focused, and pointed questions came from Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and David Vitter (R-LA). Sen. DeMint said he found it ‘terribly naïve’ to suggest that the Law of the Sea Treaty would create ‘a predictable framework.’ He compared the [Law of the Sea Treaty] Council to the U.N., where the U.S. is often outvoted by a wide margin, and noted the absence of a U.S. veto.”

3. CONGRESS

Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) co-sponsor an energy bill that would cost taxpayers over $1 trillion over ten years.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steve Milloy on what we would be getting for our money:

“This week, the EPA sent its analysis of the bill’s impact on climate to Bingaman and Specter. Now we can see what we’d get for our money, and we may as well just build a giant bonfire with the cash and enjoy toasting marshmallows over it. For reference purposes, the current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 380 parts per million. The EPA estimates that if no action is taken to curb CO2 emissions, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 would be 718 ppm by 2095. If the Bingaman-Specter bill were implemented, however, the EPA estimates that CO2 levels would be 695 ppm — a whopping reduction of 23 ppm.”

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

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