CEI Today: EPA greenhouse gas rule, cosmetics regulation, and union pensions

EPA GREENHOUSE GAS RULE - MYRON EBELL

Globalwarming.org: Obama Turns from Raising Gas Prices to Raising Electric Rates

The Obama Administration‟s Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released a final rule to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities that will ban the construction of new conventional coal-fired power plants. The result will be to raise electric rates for consumers, businesses, and manufacturers.

“President Obama has decided to apply the same policy magic that is raising gasoline prices to electricity prices,” said Myron Ebell, Director of CEI‟s Center for Energy and Environment. “The Obama EPA‟s new global warming rule will raise electric rates in the heartland states that get most of their electricity from coal. These are the states where American manufacturing is now concentrated precisely because they depend on affordable electricity from coal.” >View the full story on Globalwarming.org

> Interview Myron Ebell

See also: EPA Announces the Coal Industry’s Death

REGULATING COSMETICS - ANGELA LOGOMASINI Openmarket.org: Congressional Blowout Over Cosmetics Law Reform On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on cosmetics regulation to consider whether Congress should beef up federal law to ensure public health and safety. Ironically, many calls for federal action came from industry, mostly small firms that simply want the freedom to innovate and market products across state lines without running up against 50 different sets of rules and who want to restore consumer confidence about the safety of their products. Unfortunately, federal action may move the debate in a different, not-so-positive direction, particularly given the viewpoints expressed by lawmakers who will craft the “reforms.” > Read the full commentary on Openmarket.org > Interview Angela Logomasini

UNION PENSIONS - IVAN OSORIO Forbes.com: Ma Bell's Long Legacy Of Unsustainable Pensions Is Alive and Well “Communism,” comedian Lenny Bruce once quipped, “is like one big phone company.” This dated joke refers to the monolithic phone company known as “Ma Bell,” which enjoyed a government-granted monopoly over America’s communications sector until being broken up in 1984. But while Ma Bell is long dead, its legacy of unsustainable pensions remains alive and well. > Read more on Forbes.com > Interview Ivan Osorio

HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT HOUR Saturday, March 31 HAH is an annual event to recognize and celebrate human achievement and innovation. During the hour, participants are asked to listen to music, surf the internet, have a glass of beer, and generally enjoy the fruits of the human mind which would not have been possible in a world where conservation restrains advancement. HAH can be celebrated anywhere from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. In addition, CEI will be hosting a celebration at our headquarters in Washington, DC and live streaming our event online. Join the HAH Facebook group.

CEI Weekly: The True Story of Cosmetics

Friday, October 21, 2011

Feature: In a new CEI study, Dana Joel Gattuso explains why cosmetics aren't the dangerous products that environmentalists say they are.

FEATURED STORY: The True Story of Cosmetics The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group are working to publicize the perceived risks of cosmetic products. Unfortunately, they're frightening consumers away for no reason other than the perpetuation of their campaign against all products that don't fit the 'green' standard. This week, CEI released a study by Dana Joel Gattuso responding to the claims of environmentalist groups. You can read the full study here. CEI's press statement on the study is here. SHAPING THE DEBATE The Problem with Shared Value Creation Fred Smith's video podcast Long Live the Limited Liability Corporation Bill Frezza's op-ed in RealClearMarkets Wholesale Deception Angela Logomasini's op-ed in The Washington Times A Plan to Chill Employment Iain Murray and David Bier's op-ed in The Washington Times The Fundamental Fallacies of Macroeconomics Bill Frezza's column in Forbes Obama Admin Hides Officials IPCC Correspondence Using Former Romney Advisor John Holdren Christopher Horner's op-ed on BigGovernment U.S. Lawmakers Push to Limit Gov't Mobile Phone Tracking Fred Smith's citation in PC World GOP Lawmakers Challenge White House on 'Scientific Misconduct' CEI's citation on FoxNews.com

CEI PODCAST October 20, 2011: Congress Passes Free Trade Agreements CEI Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith, coauthor of the new CEI study “Free Trade without Apology,” talks about the recently passed free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. The agreements will lower tariffs and other trade barriers between the U.S. and the other countries, and are expected to reap billions of dollars of economic benefits. The agreements also contain a number of trade-unrelated provisions, such as labor and environmental standards. These erode our trading partners’ sovereign lawmaking power, and are best avoided in future agreements. BEST OF THE BLOGS Dangerous Green Hype About Cosmetics By Angela Logomasini Truck Drivers Don't Need A Revised Hours-of-Service Rule By Marc Scribner The Imaginary Age of Austerity By Hans Bader Support for Ethanol is Still Unfortunately Bipartisan By Brian McGraw

CEI Daily - Cosmetics, Capital Gains Tax, and Bourgeois Dignity

Cosmetics

In recent months, environmentalists have publically questioned the safety of cosmetics.

CEI responds to environmentalists' accusations in a newly released study by Dana Joel Gattuso.

"As part of their effort to ban the use of synthetic ingredients from skin products, these environmental extremist groups are working to incite fear among consumers, making outrageous and bogus claims that we are poisoning ourselves by using lipstick, makeup, deodorants, skin creams, and even baby products. Specifically, they claim that the additives can cause cancer, create neurological disorders, or cause hormone disruption—even though they are present in trace amounts. In fact, these preservatives protect users from bacteria. Present in quantities so small—typically, less than 1 percent of a product’s total weight—they are added to prevent contamination and to protect consumers from the buildup of dangerous bacteria"

 

 

Capital Gains Tax

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Amity Schlaes recently argued that cuts in the capital gains tax helped innovators like Steve Jobs.

Senior Counsel Hans Bader comments.

"I wrote earlier about double standards contained in the capital gains tax, which result in it being higher and more burdensome than people commonly assume; and how it effectively punishes investors for investing during periods of inflation, since the government ignores inflation in calculating the cost of your investment. Moreover, while capital gains are taxable, capital losses often are excluded from consideration, and cannot be taken into account, in calculating your overall income for the year in which they occur; for example, you cannot list more than $3,000 in net capital losses on your tax return, but you have to list all of your net capital gains. That results in a 'heads I win, tails you lose' situation in which the government effectively rips off investors."

Bourgeois Dignity

In Bourgeois Dignity, economit Deirdre McCloskey argues that growing respect for innovators in the Western world paved the way for modernity.

Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young comments.

"Deirdre McCloskey thinks that a shift in rhetoric and public opinion is what made possible what she calls the Great Fact – the tenfold rise in global per-capita GDP from $3 per day in 1800 to around $30 today, and growing. The average person in rich countries make over $100 per day, more than a 30-fold increase. Remember, even the mighty U.S. was once a $3 a day nation. We had to start somewhere."

CEI - Chemical Risk of Cosmetics? New Report Exposes the Risks of Smear Campaign

True Story of Cosmetics Exposes the Risks of Smear Campaign

New Report Reveals Ugly Politics Behind Extremist Group Anti-Chemical Crusade

Washington, D.C., October 18, 2011 - The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and its partner, the Environmental Working Group, are on a crusade to scare consumers away from using cosmetics and hygiene products that contain preservatives and other useful chemicals.  But the truth, exposed in a new report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is that these fringe groups are pushing their own anti-chemical agenda at the expense of human health.  In fact, consumers are at far greater risk by avoiding ingredients that fringe groups seek to ban or regulate, as sound and peer-reviewed science shows.

“As part of their effort to ban the use of synthetic ingredients from skin products, environmental extremist groups are working to incite fear among consumers, making outrageous and bogus claims that we are poisoning ourselves by using lipstick, makeup, deodorants, skin creams, and even baby products,” said Dana Joel Gattuso, author of the CEI Issue Analysis, The True Story of Cosmetics: Exposing the Risks of the Smear Campaign.

Among the report’s findings:

• These extremist groups claim that the additives can cause cancer, create neurological disorders, or cause hormone disruption— even though they are present in trace amounts.  In fact, these preservatives protect users from bacteria. Present in quantities so small—typically, less than 1 percent of a product’s total weight—they are added to prevent contamination and to protect consumers from the buildup of dangerous bacteria that can cause eye infections, skin rashes, and even deadly infections such as E. coli and Salmonella.
• Chemical oxybenzone is used in sunscreens to protect users from the ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer. The EWG warns consumers to stay away from oxybenzone because it “contaminates the body” and can cause hormone disruption and cell damage. Yet cancer research organizations such as the Skin Cancer Foundation refute EWG’s assertions, arguing that there is no evidence to back the claims of oxybenzone risks, and raise concerns that such unfounded claims will put consumers at risk by scaring them away from protective sunscreens.

Unfortunately, anti-chemical groups have been successful in creating a climate of fear among many consumers and lawmakers, backing bills in Congress, such as the “Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011,” that would ban any cosmetic and skin care ingredients that exceed a one in a million risk of an adverse health impact. That bill would effectively ban most ingredients since almost everything carries risk greater than one in a million.

► Read the CEI Issue Analysis, The True Story of Cosmetics: Exposing the Risks of the Smear Campaign, by Dana Joel Gattuso.

► View the CEI video, Truth About Makeup

► View the How the World Works video, Critique of 'The Story of Cosmetics'

CEI Weekly: Lies,Truths, and Videotape About Makeup

Friday, February 25, 2011

Feature: CEI Studios releases a short video on "The Truth About Makeup."

FEATURED VIDEO: Lies, Truths, and Videotape About Makeup Ever since Annie Leonard released "The Story of Cosmetics," the blogosphere has been buzzing about "toxins" in personal care products. But the truth is that a lot of the "toxins" Leonard talks about are all around us---even in the natural foods we eat---and they're harmless. This week, CEI Studios released a short video responding to some of the more absurd recent allegations about cosmetics. Watch "The Truth About Makeup" here. SHAPING THE DEBATE Fixed Labor Game is Ending in Wisconsin Iain Murray and Vincent Vernuccio's op-ed in The Washington Times Tobacco Tax Hike Was a Backroom Deal Hans Bader's op-ed in The Washington Times The Case for Reform of the Railway Labor Act Russ Brown and Ivan Osorio's CEI OnPoint Comments on Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Service Hours Marc Scribner's comment letter submitted before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration George Washington Was a Brilliant Entrepreneur John Berlau's op-ed in NewsMax Bad Publicity, Good Results Ryan Young's op-ed in The Daily Caller Madison Fight Remains in Public Spotlight Iain Murray and Vincent Vernuccio's citation in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Tough Terms May Land Apple's Subscription in Hot Water Ryan Radia's citation in E-Commerce Times

CEI PODCAST February 24, 2011: On Wisconsin CEI Vice President Iain Murray discusses the labor reforms that have led to a thousands-strong protest in Madison, Wisconsin. While the reforms themselves are relatively minor, both sides know that the stakes are high. We may be at a watershed moment in the relationship between public sector unions and taxpayers. BEST OF THE BLOGS Unions Bucking the Will of the People By Vincent Vernuccio Obama Fans the Flames in Wisconsin, Seeking to Block State Budget Reforms By Hans Bader House De-funds Ethanol in Budget Bill By Brian McGraw Lesson From Four Loko: Don't Be Too Good By Michelle Minton