CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. ENVIRONMENT
Shrinking deaths from weather disasters contradict predictions of extreme global warming.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on what the science says about extreme weather events:
“Madhav Khandekar, recently retired after 25 years with Environment Canada, is an expert on extreme weather events and edited a special issue of the International Journal of Natural Hazards on the subject last year. He told the audience that extreme weather events as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are not increasing anywhere in North America at this point in time. Nor, based on available studies, does there appear to be any increasing trend in extreme weather events elsewhere.”
2. TECHNOLOGY
Google makes a bid for wireless spectrum to expand its presence in mobile services.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Policy Analyst Cord Blomquist on the debate over an “open” vs. “closed” model for mobile devices:
“Of course the real closed vs. open debate is whether we want an open economy. Open, that is, to varying business models – rather than one that is closed to any service or product that technophiles might describe with the now-curse-words ‘proprietary’ or ‘closed source.’ The techno-intelligentsia may value the notion of taking a phone from network to network, or being able to install Skype on anything with processor, but it turns out that most people couldn’t care less. Ultimately that’s what matters. The systems that are adopted shouldn’t be chosen by uber-geeks and regulators, but by every-day consumers.”
3. FOOD
Congress considers making it illegal to sell soda and other snacks in schools.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: President Fred L. Smith, Jr. debates vending machine food choices on CNN:
“But the challenge of our educational system is to train people to be responsible adults. To go in the schools and say, we’re talking away all those painful choices, we’re going to make sure you face a risk-free environment where all the painful choices [are removed for] you by the benevolent state, how are these people ever going to grow up to be responsible adults if we make them irresponsible children?”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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