The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. ENERGY
Tax breaks for renewable energy sources sail through the Senate Finance Committee.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Fran Smith on the problem with subsidizing alternative energy sources like ethanol:
“With tax incentives, grants, and loans for biofuel development and mandates for greatly expanded biofuel use, farmers are rapidly shifting to corn production for ethanol to feed the expanded, government-driven demand for corn as an ethanol feedstock. However, this demand has already created unforeseen problems—which are likely to be exacerbated by new energy proposals to dramatically increase biofuel use mandates and production subsidies. Experts predict an increase in soil erosion, increased use of fertilizers leading to greater runoff, decrease in water quality, and more fuel used in the transportation of ethanol.”
2. TECHNOLOGY
Scientists announce new advances in producing wireless electricity.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Policy Analyst Cord Blomquist on the history of the technology:
“What is new is that wireless power is now economically viable. Wireless power transfer has only ever been realistically proposed to be low power and short distance. This didn’t serve much of a commercial purpose at the turn of the century when electricity powered light bulbs and electric motors. Back then wires were a much more practical solution for this sort of things, but now the ubiquity of chip-packed gizmo devices makes this formerly useless novelty a potential cash cow.”
3. CONGRESS
A CNN investigation finds that House members fail to deliver on promises of transparency regarding budget earmarks.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer questions the importance of earmark requests relative to the total federal budget:
“Federal funding for local bike trails, gardens, and museums makes for good headlines. But focusing on earmarks along may distract people from looking at deeper, more important reforms that would actually reduce the size and scope of government. Eliminating all earmarks tomorrow, after all, would still leave us with the same, big government we have today.”
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 202-331-2273 or email to [email protected].