The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
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Issues in the News
1. LEGAL
Congress considers legislation to create a new category of “hate crimes” under federal law.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on why the legislation is unconstitutional:
“[Hate crimes cannot] be prohibited under the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from denying the equal-protection of the laws, since the Fourteenth Amendment only applies to governmental discrimination, not private hate-crimes. Thus, banning gender-based hate crimes is a decision to be made by states, not the federal government. What is true for gender-based hate crimes is true for sexual-orientation based hate crimes as well. Under the [<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />United States v.] Morrison decision, Congress lacks the power to ban hate crimes based on sexual orientation.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
A new study finds that ethanol-fueled cars would actually produce worse pollution than current gasoline-burning models.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steven Milloy on the many ‘green’ technologies that aren’t meeting expectations:
“From hybrid cars costing far more than they save in the way of fuel economy to Northern latitude forests causing global warming, to mercury-containing compact fluorescent light bulbs potentially turning homes into toxic waste sites, it’s becoming more apparent every day that green-ness is not necessarily what it’s cracked up to be.”
3. SAFETY
The Senate moves forward with legislation to raise federal fuel economy standards for new cars.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: General Counsel Sam Kazman on the deadly impact of the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) program:
““With today’s high gas prices, CAFE could not be more irrelevant, because consumers are demanding greater fuel economy on their own. The fact that CAFE has become such a high-profile issue indicates that the problem is not consumers’ alleged addiction to oil, but rather the addiction of politicians to regulating oil. As for the notion that new technologies will allow CAFE to be raised without a lethal effect on traffic safety, that is nonsense, pure and simple.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-332-2273 or email to [email protected].