CEI Today: Obamacare ruling, Katy Perry, BPA risk & pregnancy, and social cost of carbon

OBAMACARE RULING – SAM KAZMAN

Obamacare Lawsuit May Proceed, Judge Rules

A federal judge Tuesday ruled that a lawsuit challenging a major IRS Obamacare regulation may proceed, denying the government’s motion to dismiss. The judge has promised a ruling in the case by mid-February.

Plaintiffs are suing over an IRS regulation imposed under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that will subject them to a series of penalties and force them to cut back employees’ hours, even though they are located in states that have refused to set up their own insurance exchanges. CEI attorneys are assisting in coordinating the lawsuit.

BPA (NON)RISK – ANGELA LOGOMASINI

Forbes: A Miscarriage Of Science: BPA’s Unproven Pregnancy Risk

The headlines are out: Pregnant woman should fear the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) because a “new study” says it increase the risk of miscarriage. Fortunately, we have lots of good reasons to doubt these headlines.

SOCIAL COST OF CARBON – MARLO LEWIS

Globalwarming.org: Do the Monetary Benefits of CO2 Emissions Outweigh the Costs?

Climate campaigners increasingly invoke the concept of the “social cost of carbon” to justify carbon taxes, mandatory production quota for renewable electricity, and other policies to suppress fossil-fuel consumption.

But carbon’s alleged social cost is highly subjective, inferred from speculative assessments of climate sensitivity, how global warming will affect weather patterns, how climate changes will affect economic activity, and how adaptive capabilities will develop as climate changes.

CHILDHOOD OBESITY – MICHELLE MINTON

Openmarket.org: Is Katy Perry Causing Childhood Obesity?

No, of course not! However, a coalition of health advocates seems to be making that assertion when they sent her a letter this week asking that she relinquish her sponsorship of Pepsi because, they insist, its deviously effective marketing of soda to children is a cause of childhood obesity. Never mind that childhood obesity rates are declining around the nation among all socioeconomic levels, the cause of obesity is not and never has been advertising.