The End of the Moratorium, McDonald’s 6-Month-Old Burger, and the Regulation of the Day

End of the Moratorium

The Obama Administration has lifted the moratorium on oil drilling.

Associate Fellow Ben Lieberman explains why the end of the moratorium doesn’t signal easy times for oil companies.

“The moratorium is gone, but all the pre-spill hurdles are still in force. In addition, Secretary of the Interior Salazar announced several tough new provisions and stated that only those operators who ‘clear the higher bar can be allowed to resume.’ Interior concedes that these new requirements “may delay development of some OCS oil and gas resources.” Additional delays piled onto a policy that had already ground drilling to a near halt is not good news for American energy production.”

McDonald’s 6-Month-Old Burger

A New York artist left a McDonald’s happy meal out for six months and took pictures of it. After six months, the meal still looked fresh.

Policy Analyst Michelle Minton argues that media outlets should be celebrating–not deriding–how well-preserved the meal is.

“While it may seem ‘unnatural,’ food preservation is responsible for a substantial increase in the quality of life for human beings. Salting meats, dehydration, and canning have significantly contributed to the increase in the quality of food and the prevention of disease. That Sally’s burger and fries show no signs of mold or rot indicates that they resisted spores for the entire six months. That is an amazing achievement!”

Regulation of the Day

Bucks County, Pennsylvania is now fining people who forget to lock their cars.

Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young criticizes the county for this new nanny-state regulation.

“Bear in mind that enforcing this policy involves police systematically trying to break into peoples’ cars. First, that’s inherently creepy. Second, that’s a significant privacy violation. It’s also a Fourth Amendment issue. If an officer stumbles upon something illegal and decides to prosecute, he has performed a warrantless search.”