Environmentalism, Vioxx and Carbon Offsets
The Washington Examiner editorializes on how environmental policies expand the scope of government power.
Merck wins two appeals in lawsuits related to its painkiller Vioxx.
The market for personal “carbon offsets” faces troubles.
1. POLITICS
The Washington Examiner editorializes on how environmental policies expand the scope of government power.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Risk & Environmental Policy Angela Logomasini on the “green” agenda:
“When most Americans say they are environmentalists, they express the simple desire for clean air, clean water, and an appreciation for wildlife. But today’s environmental movement is much more focused on expanding government controls and bureaucracy than anything else. Much of what they advocate unnecessary and needlessly expensive. The impact on freedom and the economy is far greater than most people realize.”
2. HEALTH
Merck wins two appeals in lawsuits related to its painkiller Vioxx.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Gregory Conko on the therapeutic advantages of drugs like Vioxx:
“…it’s worth reviewing the reason why Vioxx was hailed as a therapeutic breakthrough when the FDA approved it in 1999. Used primarily as an arthritis treatment, Vioxx was the first in a class of drugs known as cox-2 inhibitors that have begun to displace conventional anti-inflammation drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen in the treatment of chronic pain. Though we now know that cox-2 drugs do raise slightly the background risk of cardiac events, daily use of conventional anti-inflammation drugs is known to cause a much bigger problem: a fairly high risk of stomach and intestinal bleeding and gastric ulcers. Daily use of drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen hospitalizes an estimated 100,000 Americans every year and kills more than 16,000.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
The market for personal “carbon offsets” faces troubles.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steven Milloy on the money to be made in the carbon offset racket:
“The average ‘carbon footprint’ for a U.S. household is 19 metric tons of CO2, according to BP’s web site. Based on that figure, we calculate that the average U.S.U.S. households. Moreover, the carbon off-set hucksters have created such a price scale that if you wanted to purchase enough off-sets at the low-end price of $5.50/mt-CO2 to potentially avoid one degree Fahrenheit of warming based on the average household’s ‘carbon footprint,’ they would reap about $7.04 trillion.” household contributes, at most, an infinitesimal 0.0000000000148 degrees Fahrenheit annually to average global temperature – a trivial contribution even when multiplied by the 100 million
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
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