CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. CONGRESS

The Senate holds hearings on ratification of the controversial “Law of the Sea” treaty.   

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Doug Bandow on the problems with the treaty:

“The treaty’s worst provisions, those creating the seabed regulatory regime, are very bad indeed. Despite the oft-repeated claim that the 1994 Clinton accord ‘fixed’ the treaty, LOST remains true to its radical origins. Although some of the treaty’s worst provisions have been modified, it still establishes a bizarre regulatory regime to govern seabed mining—which would be antagonistic to commerce, exploration, and investment.”

2. ENVIRONMENT

Pope Benedict XVI embraces the concept of “carbon offsets” to mitigate Vatican City’s production of greenhouse gases.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on how offsets are the modern equivalent of Medieval indulgences:

“Are you a carbon-using Christian? Feeling guilty about all that carbon dioxide (CO2) you pump into the atmosphere by such awful things as breathing, heating and cooling your home, lighting your work or study space, or driving to church? Now, like traditional sinners whose only mistake was breaking the Ten Commandments, you can atone for your carbon sins by buying carbon offsets from the Evangelical Climate Initiative — though I thought it was pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism, not Protestant evangelicalism, that endorsed indulgences.”

3. AUTOMOBILITY

The BBC finds that drivers in Beijing widely ignored the Chinese government’s attempt to impose a “No Car Day” on drivers.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: General Counsel Sam Kazman on the limitations of a car-free lifestyle:

“While a car-free lifestyle might be perfect for some, it would be pure misery for many others—among them the handicapped, the elderly, parents carrying infants, people lugging groceries, and suburban residents getting to work. And the car-free lifestyle itself depends for its existence on other motorized vehicles, which deliver everything from organic flour to the ingredients for lattes.”

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.

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