The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. HEALTH
Low-carbohydrate, “Atkins”-style diets come out on top in a new study of weight loss plans.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steven Milloy on the assumed link between low-fat diets and cancer prevention:
“The widely-believed notion that low-fat diets are good for your health went “poof” this week—although the busting of that myth shouldn’t be news to regular readers of this column. Low-fat diets didn’t reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer or invasive breast cancer, according to three large studies published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.”
2. LEGAL
Auto manufacturers ask for a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state of California over global warming.
CEI Experts Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on California’s recent history with climate change litigation:
“[Former California Attorney General Bill] Lockyer joined two meritless global warming lawsuits: Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal’s nuisance suit against out of state utilities and Massachusetts Attorney General Reilly’s lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As previously described, these lawsuits flouted the Senate’s decision not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol55 and sought to impose the plaintiff states’ laws on industries located in other states.”
3. POLITICS
Conservatives gather in Washington, D.C. for the 34th annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
CEI Experts Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Jeremy Lott on what was popular with CPAC attendees this year:
“Lines to see speeches at this year’s CPAC were as long as the wait for Disneyland’s Magic Mountain ride at the height of tourist season. At several points, the queue stretched back from the Omni Shoreham’s Regency Ballroom to the exhibition hall, curled around the wall, and kept right on going. If the people had waited single-file, the last man would have stood in the middle of the lobby.”