OpenMarket

The Guardian recently published a story on a Greenpeace attack on CEI for pointing out that reusable grocery bags might contain dangerous pathogens, including COVID-19. I have no problem with people who choose reusable bags, but it’s good for them to know that they need to be washed after every use. I do have a problem with government bans and regulations that force people to use reusable bags.

The American Enterprise Institute this week published A Critique of the House Republican Climate Policy Proposals by AEI economist Benjamin Zycher. Zycher finds that the warming reductions achieved by tree planting and carbon capture technologies would be “effectively equal to zero” yet “very expensive” to implement.

The Senate passed a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus bill by a 96-0 vote. The House passed the bill by voice vote on March 27. The House Democrats’ bill was so radical and most of it had so little to do with addressing the current health crisis or the resulting economic crisis that it discredited the more modest attempts to add irrelevant wind and solar tax credits to the bill in the Senate.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation recently hosted its latest virtual event, “Reforming Antitrust Policy for an Era of Global Competitiveness.” ITIF President Rob Atkinson set up the discussion with the premise that European Union and United States antitrust policy may need to change—that is, loosen—to accommodate the consolidation of national champion-type firms in China.

This week, Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee unveiled their public policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While framed as a goodwill attempt at helping struggling Americans, the partisan legislation contains a number of controversial provisions that have no place in an emergency, short-term relief package.

According to Greenpeace, my recent article on the sanitary benefits of single-use plastic bags is part of an effort to “exploit” COVID-19 fears and promote “pro-pollution agendas.” But Greenpeace’s accusations are not just wrong, they are laughable. In fact, they better describe Greenpeace’s tactics.

The Department of Justice urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stand by its decision to dismiss the so-called Kids Climate Suit on the grounds that plaintiffs lack standing to sue the U.S. government. The panel found that the proposed remedy—a U.S. government-wide plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy—would not “ameliorate” any climate-related harms plaintiffs purport to have sustained.

American consumers, worried about the future of the coronavirus pandemic have continued to buy out available stocks of key products. However, temporary shortages are the exception that proves the rule: the American consumer economy is doing an extremely good job under extraordinary stress, and we have a decentralized market economy to thank for that.

The Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act is the most irresponsible piece of fiscal legislation to come out of the profligate Congress for a long time, at $2.5 trillion. It is an insult to a nation in the throes of a scary pandemic, witnessing horrific deaths from oxygen starvation, with no obvious end in sight.

After attempting to cover up the spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party is now engaged in a global propaganda campaign to improve its image and future economic position. Such behavior isn’t surprising from that regime. What is surprising is that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich seems to have fallen for it.