The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is suffering policy schizophrenia. On the one hand, it has ordered automakers to increase fuel efficiency to save the planet from global warming. On the other hand, it is setting higher quotas of ethanol in gasoline, which will decrease fuel efficiency and increase emissions of …
The Washington Post on February 10 ran an op-ed by Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius asserting that the new health reform legislation empowers the states and gives them the flexibility they are asking for. Indeed, she says, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) “gives …
While there is much in today’s address by President Obama to the US Chamber of Commerce to unpack, one issue that deserves response were his remarks about addressing unnecessary regulation. The President again promoted his government-wide search for “outdated and unnecessary regulations,” stating that “if there are rules on the books that …
Lest anyone tell you that the phase-out of (non-toxic) incandescent light bulbs will be hassle-free (other than hugely expensive), herewith is the directive from the Environmental Protection Agency for ridding your home of toxic vapor in the event you or a loved one (or relative) breaks the mercury-laden compact fluorescent …
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been ordered to issue job-killing regulations that the agency and industry both agree are faulty and unfeasible. The EPA’s blunder is an object lesson on the costly consequences of reckless rulemaking and regulatory excess. The impending regulations address emissions from industrial boilers and incinerators. …
In fiscal year 2010, the first full fiscal year under the Obama Administration, the federal government issued 43 major new regulations. According to the Administration’s own estimates, the total cost of these rules was $28 billion. Only two of the new rules reduced measured regulatory costs, and then by only …
Legislation to vastly expand the regulatory powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to advance in the Senate last week as proponents had expected. A vote may be rescheduled when Congress reconvenes after the Thanksgiving recess. But if lawmakers are truly vested in optimizing food safety, they will …
