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This week in ridiculous regulations: Space debris and dried prunes
The privately-built Odysseus spacecraft became the first American moon lander since 1972. President Biden announced new Russian sanctions in response to opposition leader Aleksey Navalny’s…
Blog
Federal courts to the rescue on bad appliance regulations?
The US Supreme Court recently heard a case that could impact how much deference judges give to regulatory agencies. To be certain, any relief…
Blog
FDA power grab would hurt labs, patients, rule of law
The Food and Drug Administration has proposed to amend one of its rules for the purpose of unlawfully expanding its jurisdiction over diagnostic tests.
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The Hill
Top Conservative Groups Urge Trump to Reject Climate Change Agreement
The Hill cited CEI’s Myron Ebell on the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. In a letter sent Monday to President Trump, the…
Inside Sources
Is Your Weed Killer Killing You?
You might think that the popular weed killer known as Roundup is causing cancers around the world thanks to alarming news coverage of pending lawsuits.
Blog
For Sake of Public Health, FDA Should Not Ban E-cigarette Flavors
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gotlieb, a medical doctor and cancer survivor, has had a long-term interest in tackling tobacco-related diseases. But unfortunately…
Blog
5 Facts about Vapes that Media and Activists Don’t Want You to Know
The news media and activists like to hype e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco products as a health hazard, but the reality is that e-cigarettes could help…
Blog
Five Reasons Banning Plastics May Harm the Environment and Consumers
Consumers beware: In response to plastic waste collecting in the oceans, states, businesses, and even the European Union have proposed absurd bans on the use…
Automotive News
Can Regulators Keep up with the Pace of Self-Driving Tech?
Automotive News cited Marc Scribner on self-driving vehicles, standards, safety technologies and regulations. “This goes well beyond the types of technology NHTSA has…
Blog
Last Chance for the 115th: Common-Sense Guidance on Regulating Flame Retardants
In “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress,” CEI recommended that Congress hold oversight hearings regarding the Consumer Product Safety Commission…
Blog
Last Chance for the 115th: Protect Lifesaving Vaping Products
Congress must act before anti-tobacco zealots in and outside of government eliminate life-saving vaping products. Anything that makes e-cigarettes less attractive to smokers will result in…
The Washington Examiner
Trump Keeps His Promise, Dying Patients Get a Second Chance At Life
The Washington Examiner cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the direct toll to human life that regulations impose as a result of ever-increasing FDA clinical…
Blog
Prop E Win in San Francisco Would Be Loss for Public Health
“Big Tobacco” is pouring millions into a campaign to maintain their ability to keep selling harmful products that target children. At least, that’s the narrative…
Blog
Will Coffee Give You Cancer (in California)?
Our friends over at Reason TV have a new video asking the attention-grabbing headline “Will coffee give you cancer?” As it turns out, no (unless…
Science 2.0
EPA IRIS Program Is Hardly The “Gold Standard”
Don’t be fooled by those who say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) sets the…
Blog
Supreme Court Ends Sports Betting Prohibition—Now What?
It’s hard to believe it was just last Monday the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal law that, for 25 years, prevented the states…
Blog
Tell the Energy Department What You Think about Your Dishwasher
Thirty-five years ago, dishwashers cleaned dishes in about an hour. Sadly today, due to federal regulations, there are no dishwashers that do so. This isn’t progress—it’s…
SFGate
Trump, Top Car Executives Meet Amid Struggle Over Climate Rules for Automobiles
SFGate cited Myron Ebell on the need for diversification in motor vechicle standards in order to suit the diverse needs of Americans living across the…
Blog
Supreme Court Sports Betting Decision Big Win for Consumers, Federalism
Today’s Supreme Court opinion in Murphy v. NCAA (formerly Christie v. NCAA) is a big win for consumers, states, and the constitutional principle…
Blog
Systematic Failures of Chemical Safety Research at Environmental Protection Agency
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” could be the motto of one of the key research programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection…
Blog
Cracking Down on Automated Vehicles Would Mean More Death and Destruction
Real-life road testing is the best way to continue improving the performance of automated driving systems, thanks in part to the gathering of real-time road…
Blog
Will Government Allow Gene Editing for Cancer Treatment?
The idea of genome editing is no longer a theoretical concept studied only within the confines of labs and scientific research institutions. In August 2017, scientists…
Blog
3 Proposals to Temper the Federal Payday Loan Rule
When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule regulating payday loans in October last year, I wrote that this could be the end…
NewsBusters
Is Using Pesticides an Act of Chemical Warfare?
A substance that “belongs to a class of chemicals developed as a nerve gas made by Nazi Germany is now found in food, air…
Blog
States: Protect Taxpayers and Reject Sports Gambling Rent-Seekers
For the last 25 years, the states have lost out on millions in tax revenue they could have collected from sports betting, thanks to a…
NBC News
Cigarette Company Philip Morris Tries to Sell Idea of ‘Safer’ Tobacco
NBC News covers smoking alternatives. When Philip Morris International took out an ad campaign in Britain claiming it wanted to “give up” smoking, American…
Blog
7 Reasons to Oppose the Federal Payday Loan Rule
Congress should use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small dollar loan rule.
Blog
Congress Must Help Modernize Outdated Auto Safety Regulations
Congress should encourage safety regulators to more rapidly adopt modern standards developed by private professional organizations. …
Blog
Federalist Society Documents ‘American Spirit’ of U.S. Distilling
The Federalist Society has produced an excellent new short film out about the history of alcohol regulation.
Blog
Is There a Drone under Your Tree? Here’s the Current Status of Federal Regulation
No longer just the stuff of modern warfare, small drone aircraft are increasingly used in real estate, agriculture, infrastructure inspection, and search and rescue, to…
HuffPost
Nanny State Activists Spread Holiday Fear about Toy Safety
Rather than spreading holiday cheer, nanny state activists apparently prefer to spread fear about toy safety. Indeed, activists are using the holiday season as a…
The Huffington Post
Neurotoxins in Your Thanksgiving Meal
Should you “go organic” for Thanksgiving, buying only “chemical free” foods? That’s the suggestion of some “…
HuffPost
How Technology Makes Life–and Wine–More Satisfying
It’s easy to romanticize the past and wish one lived during a “golden age.” But was the past really that good? Fictional character Gil Pender…
Blog
CEI Calls on EPA to Reconsider More-Stringent Fuel Economy Standards
On Thursday, October 5, the Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding its Final Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) of greenhouse…
Blog
Cut Red Tape and Save Lives by Regulating Tobacco Alternatives Based on Risk
At the beginning of the year, President Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at cutting red tape. The order directs federal agencies to set…
HuffPost
Activists Use Faulty Claims to Push Flame Retardant Ban
“Look before you leap” has long been considered sage advice. But environmental activists today called on regulators at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to…
Blog
Conservatives & Libertarians to GOP: Time to Evolve on Marijuana Policy
A bill introduced by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will prevent the Department of Justice from using taxpayer dollars to prosecute medical marijuana…
Blog
Fuel Economy Regulations Threaten Vehicle Safety
In 1992 a federal appeals court found that CAFE undercuts vehicle safety, by causing cars to be made smaller and light in order to meet…
Blog
SELF DRIVE Act to Face House Floor Vote
Congress needs to move forward on self-driving cars.
Blog
New Film ‘Food Evolution’ Confronts Confusion on GMO Crops
Genetic modification of food crops is a valuable scientific process that has already helped feed countless millions of people around the world and provided breathtaking humanitarian…
Blog
NYT Pesticide Exposé Only Exposes Foolish Reporting
EPA decision not to ban chlorpyrifos was based on sound science.
VapingPost
In-Flight Vaping Ban Upheld
VapingPost covers CEI’s objection to a DOT vaping ban on airplanes. In another blow to American vapers, the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free…
The Hill
The FDA Shouldn’t Give Into Irrational E-Cigarette Fears
The Food and Drug Administration is now on the wrong side of a new anti-vaping campaign. Instead of helping teens reject using tobacco or e-cigarettes,…
Blog
Environmental Activists Continue to ‘Bee’ Wrong about Honeybee Health Challenges
Lawmakers need to start ignoring the environmentalist hype and let bee keepers continue to resolve environmental health challenges.
The Fix
Vaping Ban Upheld By Federal Court
The Fix discusses the Department of Transportation e-cigarette ban with Sam Kazman. A federal court has stamped out a challenge to the Department of…
Bloomberg
‘No Smoking’ Also Applies to E-Cigarettes on Flights, Court Says
Bloomberg covers a lawsuit CEI filed against the Department of Transportation airplane e-cigarette ban. Vaping is smoking, a federal appeals court ruled, upholding…
The Hill
Court Upholds Obama Rule Banning Vaping on Airplanes
The Hill covers a lawsuit filed by CEI against the Department of Transportation’s airplane vaping ban. A federal appeals court Friday upheld an…
Inside Sources
Point: Trump’s War on Junk Science
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s action on pesticides sets an important pro-science precedent.
RealClear Health
Fears Aren’t Facts: E-Cigarettes
There can no longer be any dispute: electronic cigarettes, also known as “vapes,” are significantly less harmful to health than traditional combustible cigarettes. Not only…
Blog
Law Enforcement Joins Coalition to End Sports Gambling Ban
The American Gaming Association (AGA) launched a new coalition with one mission: end the unconstitutional ban on legal sports betting.
Blog
Laptop Bans Harm Tourism and Airlines
Banning laptop computers from airplane cabins could not only harm safety, but also the tourism industry.
Blog
Gottlieb Tells Congress FDA Will Base E-Cig Regulations on Science
Democrats like to portray their party as the “party of science.” Yet, when it comes to harm-reducing tobacco alternatives that offer millions of smokers a…
Blog
Supreme Court Should Overturn Congress’ Sports Betting Ban
The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is blatantly unconstitutional and ought to be struck down in full.
Blog
Biggest Study Yet Shows the Dangers of War on Salt
History, and consumers, will not look kindly on organizations that continue to cling to their unjustified war on salt.
Blog
Trump DOJ Nominee Unlikely to Bend to Anti-Gamblers’ Will
Steven Engel—Trump’s nominee to head this powerful office—indicated during his confirmation hearing that would not be swayed by political pressure or convenience.
Blog
How Flying Dog Brewery Fought Government Censors and Won
Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery, sits down with Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie to discuss the brewing business, marketplace diversity, evolving consumer taste, and…
Blog
How FDA Commissioner Gottlieb Can Save E-Cigarettes and Lives
Now that he has triumphed over the confirmation process, Gottlieb’s real challenge—streamlining the FDA for the benefit of consumers—begins.
Blog
Democrats Kill Vape Amendment, Possibly Thousands of Americans
It is a dark day for science-based regulation. In the early hours of Monday morning, Congress finally rolled out its $1 trillion budget deal in…
Blog
Healthy Kids Can Coexist with Flavored E-cigarettes for Adults
Research indicates that flavored e-cigarettes help smokers switch to vaping and not go back to their deadly traditional cigarette habit.
Blog
Trump Can Fund Chemical Safety Review while Cutting EPA Budget
A recently leaked EPA memo reveals there are plenty of discretionary programs to cut.
Blog
CEI E-Cigarette Lawsuit Takes on Activist Agencies
The battle over electronic cigarettes heats up even more this week as the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s general counsel Sam Kazman argued in court against a…
Real Clear Policy
The Truth About Vaping
We can’t be trusted with the truth about e-cigarettes’ health risks — that’s what government health officials and many advocates seem to think. Almost every…
Blog
New Bill Could Save Vaping Market and Millions of Lives
If we can’t fully overturn FDA’s authority to regulate vapes, the next best option would be to alter the grandfather date as the Deeming Authority…
Blog
Five Regulatory Heartbreaks on Valentine’s Day
Tomorrow we celebrate our significant other by showering them with affection and chocolate—but is government regulation getting in the way of your date night?…
Watchdog.org
Texas lawmaker wants to raise tobacco age, dent vaping in the process
Watchdog.org discusses the FDA’s regulation on electronic cigarettes with Michelle Minton. So why do government entities want to prohibit e-cigarettes? The short answer…
Blog
Scrap Proposition 65, California’s Unscientific Chemical Safety Law
California lawmakers should oppose the effort to list glyphosate as a carcinogen under the state's chemical safety and risk law, originally adopted by voters as…
Blog
Minimum Prices Have Consumer Benefits: Contact Lens Case Study
Allowing competing manufacturers to decide for themselves how to influence how their products are sold at retail is the best way to promote innovation and,…
Learn Liberty
5 Weird Ways Prohibition Still Exists Today
You would think that more than 80 years after the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition, policymakers would have eliminated senseless restrictions on the sale of wine,…
Blog
Overturning FDA’s Vape Ban Could Save Millions of Lives
If confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price could help save millions of American lives by stopping the Food and Drug Administration’s…
Watchdog.org
Free-market coalition urges Sessions, Pence to oppose online gambling ban
Watchdog.org reports on CEI’s coalition letter to the Vice President-elect and U.S. Attorney General nominee on an online gambling ban. Following attorney general…
Blog
Best of the Blog 2016
Certain topics were especially popular with readers in 2016.
Blog
The ‘Fake News’ Problem: Health and Safety Edition
The moniker “fake news” may have entered the mainstream lexicon in 2016, but phony and misleading news stories have always been a problem—and it’s a…
Blog
Congress Should Target Unaccountable EPA Programs
The newly elected congressional majority should be ready and willing to help implement President elect-Donald Trump’s promise to tackle onerous regulations. But what about so…
Investor's Business Daily
How Can You Tell A Good Trump Pick? By The Establishment Freakout
Investor's Business Daily discusses regulatory delays in the FDA drug approval process with Sam Kazman. It is true that few drugs are "safe,"…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: The Nanny State Down Under and the Robot Revolution
In this week’s episode, Topher Field discusses lifestyle regulation madness Down Under and Katherine Mangu-Ward ushers in the robot revolution.
Huffington Post
Activists Wage War on Women’s Personal Care Choices
I suspect most women would agree that when you find a skin care product that works, you stick with it. But activist groups are waging…
Blog
Self-Driving Car Developers Blast Dangerous Draft California Regulations
Today, the California Department of Motor Vehicles held a public workshop on its latest draft deployment regulations for autonomous vehicles.
Blog
WARNING: BPA Warning Labels Threaten Public Health
The state of California has extended an emergency rule that allows companies to wait until January 2017 before placing a warning on the label of…
Cato Journal
Review of “Markets without Limits”
Are there some things that should be beyond the market, that is, which should not be permitted to be bought and sold? Jason Brennan and Peter Jaworski…
Blog
Reform of “Toxic Substance” Rules Could Increase Health Risks
Although it was not unwarranted for safety reasons (as I detailed before), TSCA reform has granted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greater power to remove…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Sensible Science and Authenticity
On this week’s RealClear Radio Hour, Tracey Brown weighs risk, reward, and science, and Glenn Carroll describes authenticity’s paradox.
Blog
CEI Files Opening Brief in “Vapes on a Plane” Lawsuit
Today, CEI filed its opening brief against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary of Transportation’s March final rule prohibiting electronic cigarette…
Blog
Q&A on the FDA’s New E-Cigarette Rules
After years of waiting and fighting, the new rules put forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on electronic cigarettes and other non-cigarette…
Blog
Don’t Fear DEET-Based Insect Repellents
With the Zika virus now reportedly being transmitted by mosquitos here in the United States, consumers—expecting moms, kids, and everyone else--should be sure to use…
The Huffington Post
The Best Possible Zika Prevention Kit Includes DEET
Last week, Broward Country Florida recorded the first two Zika cases transmitted by mosquitos in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
Blog
Letter to Congress: Experts Urged House to Reject Mandatory GMO Labeling Bill
In advance of a House vote on July 14 concerning mandatory GMO labeling, myself and other policy experts on biotechnology, consumer, and agricultural policy sent…
Blog
Food Safety Experts Critical of GMO Labeling Bill
In an open letter released today, several food safety experts warned of the problems with a new Senate bill that would regulate the labeling of…
Blog
Chicago Home-Sharing Rules a Loss for Residents
Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel negotiated an armistice with the sharing economy last week. Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb have promised comply with the new rules, which…
Blog
Nobel Prize Winners Denounce Greenpeace Opposition to GMOs
For decades, the environmental activist group Greenpeace has been among the most vocal, and oftentimes vicious, opponents of biotechnology and genetically engineered crops.
Blog
New York Legislature Piles on Fines for Home-Share Listings
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is currently reviewing legislation recently passed by the state’s Senate and Assembly that would establish new penalties for advertising one’s…
Blog
Building on the Optimism of “Uber-Positive” Attitudes
There’s a new resource for understanding the state of play between politics and developments in the sharing economy, the pleasantly slim volume by the Manhattan…
Forbes
Leave Daily Fantasy Sports Regulation To The States
Forbes reports on Michelle Minton and Steven Titch's study on online gambling regulations. Leave it to the states. That is the conclusion of…
Daily Caller
Wasserman Schultz Slammed For Opposition To E-Cigarettes
The Daily Caller discusses with CEI's Michelle Minton, the Democratic National Commitee chair's criticism of the e-cigarette industry. “The industry exists because smokers…
Blog
Doing Away with Government Flammability Standards
During the past several years, there’s been much hype in the news alleging that flame retardant chemicals used on upholstered furniture pose unacceptable health risks. With…
Blog
Utah’s Disastrous War on Electronic Cigarettes
Despite the fact that tobacco products kill nearly half a million Americans each year, it is vaping products—which help people quit smoking—that have become a…
Blog
Glyphosate in Tampons, Oh My!
You may have seen the hilarious headlines about putting Monsanto in your vagina (if not, you’re welcome/I’m sorry). This hyperbole comes on the heels of a…
Real Clear Policy
‘Reforming’ the Toxic Substances Control Act
CEI's chemical policy expert, Angela Logomasini, discusses whether the proposed changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act are good or bad for consumers As early…
Blog
TSCA Reform Debate Is Not about Public Safety
At recent hearings on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697), senators, environmental activists, and local government officials claimed…
Blog
Data Torturing at the CPSC
James Mills of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development lamented in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine back in 1993: “‘If…
Blog
CPSC’s Scientific Shenanigans on Phthalates
Many “stakeholders” have complained about the process through which the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) developed its proposed rule related to a class of chemicals…
Comment
Public Comment to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Summary: Since the release of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) report in July, many stakeholders have raised serious concerns about the process and report methodologies.
Blog
CPSC Proposal on Phthalates Likely to Do More Harm than Good
On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will close the comment period for a proposed rule related to chemicals used to make soft and pliable…
Blog
Tainted Claims about “Agglomerated” Corks
A recent article in Wine Industry Insight titled “Micro-Agglomerates: 350 Million Illegal Corks Per Year?” reports: “Agglomerated cork manufacturers and importers are facing scrutiny from two major…