Daily Policy Digest
Environment Issues
| Engineering Food for All Myths about the dire effects of genetically modified foods on health and the environment abound, but they have not held up to scientific scrutiny... |
| Unfounded Fears Threaten Energy Success Story The mixture used to fracture shale is a benign blend of 90 percent water, 9.5 percent sand and 0.5 percent chemicals, such as sodium chloride (table salt) and citric acid... |
| Where Federal Energy Subsidies Really Go Direct energy subsidies by the federal government increased $19 billion in 2010; of that increase, additional subsidies for renewable energy amounted to more than $9 billion -- a 186 percent increase... |
| Wind Power Doesn't Work When Needed Most On August 2, one of the hottest days of the summer in Texas, wind energy was able to provide only about 2.2 percent of the total power demand... |
| Where to Put Spent U.S. Nuclear Fuel Washington's lack of a viable long-term plan for the radioactive waste produced by its commercial nuclear reactors is costing taxpayers billions of dollars... |
| Rare Earth Dependence In 2003, China produced only 1 percent of the world's solar panels but by 2009 its share rose to 43 percent, says H. Sterling Burnett a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis... |
| Activists Wrong about Styrofoam Cups The average 16-ounce polystyrene cup uses a third less energy, produces 50 percent less solid waste by volume, and releases a third less of greenhouse gases than does a 16-ounce paper cup with a sleeve... |
| Was the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Release the Best Way to Lower Gasoline Prices? Within a week of announcing the release of 60 million barrels of oil from strategic oil reserves, oil prices had returned to preannouncement level and were soon higher than when the announcement was made... |
| Ethanol Subsidies Have Doubled Corn Prices Corn prices, now close to $7 per bushel, have more than doubled over the past two years... |
| Blame Government for Turning off the AC If the price of electricity were a function of market forces, rather than central planning, electricity consumers could manage demand on their own accord, in response to a price signal... |
