General Motors, Aluminum Cans, and DDT

General Motors

Last week, GM filed paperwork for an initial public offering of stock.

According to CEI Policy Analyst John Berlau, the government’s continued involvement in General Motors will put new shareholders at risk.

“While the government is reducing its ownership in GM, the company will remain ‘Government Motors’ for the time being as the U.S. Treasury, according to press accounts, is expected to retain a controlling interest even after the IPO is completed. And buyer beware. Government ownership poses unique dangers for new shareholders, according to GM’s own preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC.”

Aluminum Cans

The Washington Post has a piece today celebrating the long history of the tin can.

CEI Director of Risk and Environmental Safety Angela Logomasini warns that if the FDA restricts the use of BPA, a chemical used in the production of cans, canned food will no longer be as safe as it is today.

“BPA has many valuable health, safety, and environmentally beneficial applications. BPA–based resins line food containers—e.g., aluminum and steel cans—to reduce contamination of our food from rust, E-coli, botulism, and a host of other dangerous pathogens.”

DDT

CNN Headquarters is reportedly infested with bedbugs.

CEI Director of Risk and Environmental Safety Angela Logomasini points out that if the EPA hadn’t banned DDT in the 1970s, CNN could easily be rid of their bedbugs.

“Before it were banned in 1970’s, DDT helped reduce and eradicate these once common bugs in the United States. […] Many people support DDT bans, regardless of the consequences in other countries. Millions of children die every year in developing nations from mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria that could be controlled with limited use of DDT. Yet advocating its increased use there is too politically incorrect for many Americans on the left who wrongly think DDT cannot be used in a safe and effective manner.”