Bailout Indecision, Greenhouse Gas Negotiations and Privatizing Electricity
President Bush and Treasury officials continue to evaluate possible bailout proposals for General Motors and Chrysler.
Twenty-seven European countries sign a new agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
An ice storm leads to electrical blackouts for hundreds of thousands of customers.
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1. BUSINESS
President Bush and Treasury officials continue to evaluate possible bailout proposals for General Motors and Chrysler.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Center for Entrepreneurship Director John Berlau on the real solution to Detroit’s financial woes:
“No amount of taxpayer money can save Detroit from its own mistakes or years of heavy-handed government mandates. Detroit needs to fix its labor costs, agreements with auto dealers, and other flaws in its business model. And the government needs to get out of its way by repealing costly and counter-productive mandates, such as fuel economy standards.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
Twenty-seven European countries sign a new agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on why the agreement is all smoke and mirrors:
“So if the EU has just put together an agreement to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020, why are the climate alarmist groups calling it ‘dark day’ and ‘an embarrassment’? Well, the answer is because the actual agreement is for a 4% reduction. And that may be null and void if a global agreement doesn’t emerge at Copenhagen next year, which it probably won’t. Note also that the ‘rich’ countries of the EU-15 have actually failed to make any dent in their emissions since the early 90s and that the former Eastern bloc countries have also not really lost much ground since 2000 either.”
3. ENERGY
An ice storm leads to electrical blackouts for hundreds of thousands of customers.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews and Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman on how to free up our nation’s energy potential:
“To meet our electricity needs without forcing citizens to live near unsightly electricity infrastructure, we must end the government’s stranglehold on the electricity industry. The provision of electricity is one of the most regulated businesses in America. Government controls virtually every step of the process: Electricity generation is burdened by onerous permitting; utilities are bestowed government-mandated monopolies to transmit and distribute the juice; and prices for electricity must be approved by state commissions. In this regulatory model, conspicuous waste and inefficiencies persist because there is no mechanism for change. Absent competition in a real market, there is no incentive for the industry to alter its business model.”
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