Taxing Energy, Cell Phone Health Scare and Carbon Tariffs
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on cap and trade legislation.
Concerns grow over an alleged link between cell phone use and brain tumors.
Senators endorse the idea of taxes on goods imported from countries without global warming regulations.
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.
1. ENVIRONMENT
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on cap and trade legislation.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell on the effects of restricting access to affordable energy:
“The Kerry-Boxer bill is within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee because it is a tax bill. In fact, Kerry-Boxer would be the largest tax increase in world history. While Senators Kerry and Boxer talk about creating clean energy jobs, they fail to mention that raising energy prices will cause many more Americans to lose their jobs. Higher energy prices means that people will have less money to spend on everything else—restaurants, entertainment, travel, clothing, electronics, cars, houses, and food.”
2. HEALTH
Concerns grow over an alleged link between cell phone use and brain tumors.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Ryan Young on public health and spending priorities:
“Deaths from cancer attributable to cell phone use? Zero. There is an important lesson to be learned here. Think of it like this: every dollar and every hour of researchers’ time spent investigating cancer risks from cell phones is money and time not spent curing heart disease. Or cancer itself. Or stroke. These “big three” combine to end more than a million lives each and every year. Which is a better use of limited research resources?”
3. TRADE
Senators endorse the idea of taxes on goods imported from countries without global warming regulations.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith on this alarming development:
“Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is raising the stakes on a U.S. climate bill by endorsing the idea of some sort of tariff on goods from countries that haven’t taken steps to suppress fossil fuel use…This unfortunate idea is gaining greater traction among global warming advocates as a way to maintain U.S. competitiveness for industries, such as steel and cement, that would be facing higher costs if an energy suppression bill to address global warming is passed. Proponents of ‘border measures’ also see this as a way to curtail so-called leakage of carbon-intensive industries and related jobs to other countries without similar constraints.”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.