The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. ENVIRONMENT
International security analysts predict that climate change could exacerbate violent conflicts around the world.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on the sloppy thinking behind their analysis:
“’Climate Change seen fanning conflict and terrorism’ runs the Reuters headline. The premise is that people will fight over resources made scarcer by global warming. Well, people will probably fight if the world gets cooler, too, as is likely that they did in the 17th century. The conclusion must therefore be that we live in a sort of Goldilocks climate, where things are worse if hotter and worse if cooler; current temperatures are just right. This is sloppy thinking.”
2. LEGAL
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Bush Administration’s views on the right of habeas corpus.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Jeremy Lott on how the Administration is seeking to diminish a fundamental constitutional right:
“Gonzales wrote off far too much in defense of his government’s policies. He didn’t have to do that. He could have mounted a more limited case for not granting habeas corpus to the men — designated as ‘enemy combatants’ — who have been held for years at Gitmo. The attorney general could have pressed the distinction between citizens and noncitizens, and soldiers and enemy combatants while he was at it. But he did not do that.”
3. HEALTH
A new study suggests a link between cell phone use and brain tumors.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steven Milloy on a recent legal case which failed to prove a link between mobile phones and cancer:
“If you worry that cell phone use might cause brain cancer, Judge [Catherine] Blake’s ruling should ease your mind. It’s safe to assume the plaintiff’s lawyers — the case was handled by the firm of infamous personal injury lawyer Peter Angelos — presented the “best” possible case against cell phones.”
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