Deforestation, Internet Regulation and Green Buildings
Senators probe the relationship between climate change and forests.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin tells a congressional hearing that there is no need for new Internet regulation.
Government officials in Maryland push to make “green” building standards mandatory.
1. CONGRESS
Senators probe the relationship between climate change and forests.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on how current government policies are already encouraging deforestation:
“As a global warming policy, the bio-fuels craze is clearly counter-productive. For example, the Clean Air Task Force reports that in Indonesia, almost 12 million hectares of peat land have been drained, cleared, and burned, much of it to make room for palm oil plantations. In the process, about 2 billion metric tons of CO2 are released annually, making Indonesia the world’s third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the United States.”
2. TECHNOLOGY
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin tells a congressional hearing that there is no need for new Internet regulation.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the dangerous assumption behind proposals for “net neutrality” rules:
“The underlying premise of net neutrality is that infrastructure companies should not control content, but that it’s perfectly acceptable for content companies, with the help of government regulation, to control infrastructure. The implications of entrenching this idea further in law are extremely serious.”
3. ENVIRONMENT
Government officials in Maryland push to make “green” building standards mandatory.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Risk & Environmental Policy Angela Logomasini on the drawback to building mandates:
“Many of the existing [green building] standards come with a high price tag. Mandating another one-size-fits-all approach will be costly and needlessly deprive consumers of the freedom to determine standards that work best for them. And in some cases, government mandates could price some consumers right out of the home buying market.”
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].