The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT A new survey finds many Americans concerned about global warming but unwilling to accept the recommendation of higher gas prices . CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on the real costs associated with alarmist global warming policies : “…if global warming is as big a threat as claimed, it will not be averted by minor steps like changing a few light bulbs, buying carbon offsets or driving hybrid cars. [Al] Gore himself has talked of a ‘wrenching transformation' in our lifestyles (I won't mention his heated pool). That's because everyone acknowledges that the Kyoto Protocol, even when fully and successfully implemented by all its parties, will avert a barely measurable 0.07°C of warming by 2050. To stop the more extreme estimates of warming, we would need something like 30 Kyotos. President Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto process because of its likely cost of $100 billion to $400 billion annually to the U.S. economy.”
2. INTERNETRep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduces a bill that would repeal restrictions on online gambling sites. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the problems with the original ban : “…it practically invites shady dealers to run phony, fraudulent operations, whether or not credit card firms work with them—there is more to the Internet than above-board Web sites, and lots of places to hide in cyberspace—and new gambling sites are sure to pop up as soon as the government lists the old ones. And even if the government were to correctly identify all gambling sites, punters could still bet using credit cards from foreign banks and other non-U.S.-based payment methods.”
3. ENERGYOfficials in California move forward with a plan to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs in favor of fluorescent varieties. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steve Milloy examines environmentalist hypocrisy on the light bulb issue: “As the activist group Environmental Defense urges us to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), it defines mercury on a separate part of its Web site as a ‘highly toxic heavy metal that can cause brain damage and learning disabilities in fetuses and children' and as ‘one of the most poisonous forms of pollution.' Greenpeace also recommends CFLs while simultaneously bemoaning contamination caused by a mercury thermometer factory in India. But where are mercury-containing CFLs made? Not in the U.S., under strict environmental regulation. CFLs are made in India and China, where environmental standards are virtually non-existent.”
Blog feature : For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI's blog, Open Market .