The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. ENVIRONMENT

The Supreme Court prepares to hear a case challenging the EPA’s decision not to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as pollution.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis, Jr. on the what the Clean Air Act says about carbon dioxide:

“The Clean Air Act (CAA) provides distinct grants of authority to administer specific programs for specific purposes. It authorizes EPA to administer a national ambient air quality standards program, a hazardous air pollutant program, a stratospheric ozone prevention program, and so on. Nowhere, however, does it mention carbon dioxide or climate change prevention, except for one mention in the context of non-regulatory provisions. Moreover, the one provision mentioning carbon dioxide explicitly admonishes EPA not to infer authority for carbon dioxide pollution control requirements.”

2. FINANCE

A federal court strikes down efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the hedge fund industry.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Economic Policy Fellow John Berlau on why the court’s verdict is a victory for investors:

“The court’s decision today voiding the SEC’s hedge fund registration rule is a victory for all shareholders. Hedge funds have been a major force in holding  corporate CEOs accountable, ensuring they deliver value to investors. This market force for practical corporate governance benefits not just hedge fund customers, but the entire investing public.”

3. HEALTH

The World Health Organization confirms a new case of human-to-human transmission of the avian flu virus.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Dr. Henry I. Miller on the regulatory obstacles to developing a bird flu vaccine:

“Vaccination to prevent viral and bacterial diseases is modern medicine’s most cost-effective intervention. Vaccines to prevent the expected avian flu pandemic could save the lives of millions—if vaccine R&D were not in such a sorry state, as the result of an unfortunate confluence of biology and public policy.”

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].