Water
California
San Diego Ignores Alternatives in Rush to Ban Styrofoam
San Diego has just dreamed up a Styrofoam prohibition so harsh that it will require consumers to change their foam containers to alternative packaging when they visit city property. The City Council recently voted 5-3 to approve an ordinance banning “the distribution of egg cartons, food service ware, and food trays which ...
Commentary
The Latest Target Of The Eco-Fundamentalists: Plastics
By Hank Campbell and Henry I. Miller A recent op-ed harangue in the Washington Post — “Scientists know plastics are dangerous. Why won’t the government say so? — by radical activist Paul Thacker seeks to create concern about the health effects of plastics and plasticizers. It reads like a cross between a trial attorney’s plea ...
Commentary
Banning Polystyrene Won’t Help California’s Environment — But It Will Hurt Jobs, Economy
Having successfully outlawed plastic bags and straws, the next target of California lawmakers, who seem intent on criminalizing as many consumer conveniences as possible, just might be those foam containers used to hold take-out food. Polystyrene, often called by its brand name Styrofoam, is used for more than packaging food — ...
Blog
BART Blues
In this November election, it’s unfortunate that there’s only one seat up on the BART board (for non-Bay Area readers, BART is the region’s electric train line), because if I had one command as Queen for a day – a question Tim Anaya likes to ask our podcast guests — ...
Agriculture
Eco-Bullying Crosses the Pond
Some bad ideas have originated in America. Reality television, spray-on cheese, pineapple pizza, and deep-fried Hostess Twinkies come to mind. But the most obnoxious of all may be eco-activist campaigners armed with Freedom of Information Act requests, or FOIAs, who pervert the intention of the law in order to undermine ...
Agriculture
The U.N. Celebrates 15 Years of Screwing Up Biotech Regulation
Although best-known for its peace-keeping in areas of conflict — where it enjoys a mixed record, at best — the U.N.’s agencies, programs, commissions and international agreements have a dismal record of accomplishment, especially while acting as the world’s regulator-wannabe for all manner of products, processes and activities. The U.N. ...
Agriculture
The Organic Food Industry Gets Fat on Lies
In “The Wealth of Nations,” the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ...
Blog
California Triggered by Weak, Minor Greenhouse Gas
Just days after signing legislation committing the state to 100 percent renewable sources for electricity, Gov. Jerry Brown hosted a grandiose climate summit in San Francisco. Noticeably absent from the conference was even the smallest dose of healthy skepticism. Of course, the self-important nags were there, emitting their usual industrial-grade ...
Health Care
Dr. Henry Miller Talks $6-a-Gallon “Raw Water” on Lars Larson Show
PRI Senior Fellow in Health Care, Dr. Henry Miller, discusses the marketing of $6-a-gallon “raw water” and how the “authentic industry” is pushing pure hooey on the nationally-sydnicated Lars Larson Show. The interview begins at the 45:45 mark.
Commentary
Get Real With $6-a-Gallon ‘Raw Water’
Many Americans, in search of authenticity, seek out “locally sourced,” “artisanal” and “natural” foods. Recently I saw a milk delivery truck emblazoned with the words “naturally sourced.” Was the point to assure buyers that the milk came from cows, rather than a chemical factory in Shanghai? “Authentic” connotes different things ...
San Diego Ignores Alternatives in Rush to Ban Styrofoam
San Diego has just dreamed up a Styrofoam prohibition so harsh that it will require consumers to change their foam containers to alternative packaging when they visit city property. The City Council recently voted 5-3 to approve an ordinance banning “the distribution of egg cartons, food service ware, and food trays which ...
The Latest Target Of The Eco-Fundamentalists: Plastics
By Hank Campbell and Henry I. Miller A recent op-ed harangue in the Washington Post — “Scientists know plastics are dangerous. Why won’t the government say so? — by radical activist Paul Thacker seeks to create concern about the health effects of plastics and plasticizers. It reads like a cross between a trial attorney’s plea ...
Banning Polystyrene Won’t Help California’s Environment — But It Will Hurt Jobs, Economy
Having successfully outlawed plastic bags and straws, the next target of California lawmakers, who seem intent on criminalizing as many consumer conveniences as possible, just might be those foam containers used to hold take-out food. Polystyrene, often called by its brand name Styrofoam, is used for more than packaging food — ...
BART Blues
In this November election, it’s unfortunate that there’s only one seat up on the BART board (for non-Bay Area readers, BART is the region’s electric train line), because if I had one command as Queen for a day – a question Tim Anaya likes to ask our podcast guests — ...
Eco-Bullying Crosses the Pond
Some bad ideas have originated in America. Reality television, spray-on cheese, pineapple pizza, and deep-fried Hostess Twinkies come to mind. But the most obnoxious of all may be eco-activist campaigners armed with Freedom of Information Act requests, or FOIAs, who pervert the intention of the law in order to undermine ...
The U.N. Celebrates 15 Years of Screwing Up Biotech Regulation
Although best-known for its peace-keeping in areas of conflict — where it enjoys a mixed record, at best — the U.N.’s agencies, programs, commissions and international agreements have a dismal record of accomplishment, especially while acting as the world’s regulator-wannabe for all manner of products, processes and activities. The U.N. ...
The Organic Food Industry Gets Fat on Lies
In “The Wealth of Nations,” the 18th century economist and philosopher Adam Smith observed about the chicanery of some businessmen, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” ...
California Triggered by Weak, Minor Greenhouse Gas
Just days after signing legislation committing the state to 100 percent renewable sources for electricity, Gov. Jerry Brown hosted a grandiose climate summit in San Francisco. Noticeably absent from the conference was even the smallest dose of healthy skepticism. Of course, the self-important nags were there, emitting their usual industrial-grade ...
Dr. Henry Miller Talks $6-a-Gallon “Raw Water” on Lars Larson Show
PRI Senior Fellow in Health Care, Dr. Henry Miller, discusses the marketing of $6-a-gallon “raw water” and how the “authentic industry” is pushing pure hooey on the nationally-sydnicated Lars Larson Show. The interview begins at the 45:45 mark.
Get Real With $6-a-Gallon ‘Raw Water’
Many Americans, in search of authenticity, seek out “locally sourced,” “artisanal” and “natural” foods. Recently I saw a milk delivery truck emblazoned with the words “naturally sourced.” Was the point to assure buyers that the milk came from cows, rather than a chemical factory in Shanghai? “Authentic” connotes different things ...
