The CEI Planet – November – December 2005
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Europe’s Global REACH: Chemical Regulations in Europe Promise Worldwide Costs
By Angela Logomasini
This month, the European Parliament voted in favor of a massive new expansion of the European Union’s (EU) chemical regulations. Known as REACH—which stands for registration, authorization, and evaluation of chemicals—the policy is likely to cost society billions of dollars, reduce innovation, and limit access to EU markets. Meanwhile, the proposal’s benefits are likely to be insignificant if not negative since economic decline presents more serious risks.
By Sam Kazman
Senator Hillary Clinton traveled 6,000 miles to dramatize the need for faster medical device approvals. Hard to believe, isn’t it? In fact, Sen. Clinton herself may not believe it, since she probably didn’t realize just what she was doing. Nor, for that matter, did most of the people who saw news accounts of the event.
Let a Thousand ISPs Bloom: A Hands-Off Approach to Global Tech Development
By Daniel Corbett and Braden Cox
Simply uttering the phrase “Internet governance” is enough to make some people cringe with visions of Big Brother. But Internet governance is not—and shouldn’t be—some Orwellian nightmare in which a global ministry of information controls what we read, see, and do online. In fact, it is a relatively innocuous concept—one of domain names, root servers, and other such arcana.
Millennium Challenged? A New Approach to Foreign Aid Threatens to Become More of the Same
By Isaac Post
Standing alongside U2 lead singer Bono in March 2002, President Bush announced the formation of a “new compact for global development, defined by new accountability.” Yes, the president proposed the creation of a new foreign aid program…but not the same old foreign aid. This would be foreign aid with strings attached.
by Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
It’s enough to make any parent’s heart race: children evacuated from schools as hazmat teams race in to decontaminate the buildings, while national headlines scream, “highly toxic hazardous spill.” But when the source of this panic is a few beads of mercury from a broken thermometer, it’s time to take a deep breath and seek some sound information. Small mercury spills can be easily cleaned up and don’t pose a danger to children or their teachers—but panic-driven responses can cause real harm.