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Lessons from the GM Layoffs: -cigarettes pose a fraction of the risk of cig-
End the Tariffs and Subsidies arette smoking, just 1 percent to 5 percent
according to authorities like the British govern-
ment. That could mean the difference between
life and death for the half million Americans
and 7 million people worldwide who die of
smoking-related illnesses every year.
6 Even if it turns out that e-cigarettes convey
small long-term risks, those products should
BY WAYNE CREWS AND RYAN YOUNG remain an option for smokers who haven’t
How to Rein in Regulatory been able to kick their more deadly habit
Dark Matter and haven’t had luck with prescription drugs,
patches, gums, or lozenges.
Why, then, do government agencies
and certain health activists focus more on
scaring people about the unknown risks of The facts on are not on the side of anti-
e-cigarettes than helping them understand vaping activists. There is no epidemic in teen
9
the relative risks of vaping compared to vaping. The latest CDC survey data only
smoking? The unfortunate truth is that many reveal any e-cigarette use in the last month,
of these groups may be letting their need for but previous data showed that fewer than 6
BY JESSICA MELUGIN headlines and fundraising interfere with their percent of teens (including 18 year olds, who
Cities Should Stop Slowing Down genuine goal of improving public health. can legally purchase e-cigarettes) vaped
America’s 5G Revolution To the general public, there seems to be habitually (20-30 days a month). That means
a consensus on the dangers of e-cigarettes. over 94 percent of teens are not regularly
Government agencies like the Food and vaping. Furthermore, CDC data do not tell us
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers how many of these teenage vapers are using
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nicotine, but previous research found most
and activist groups like American Cancer of them were not. It also doesn’t say what
Tesla Shareholders, Not the Government,
Society and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free percentage of teen e-cigarette users had
Should Hold the CEO Leash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Kids have all reached the same conclusion: never smoked, a number previous research
Science Shows it’s Not Really Green
to Ban Plastic Bags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 E-cigarette use is “epidemic” among puts at less than 1 percent.
Latest Bipartisan Carbon Tax Folly . . . . . . . . . 8
teenagers and this is terrible for public health. More importantly, the latest CDC data
But what most people don’t know is that reveal nothing about underage smoking,
Walking off the Job at Taxpayer Expense. . .10
these groups have worked together to hype which is the single most important data point
Will New Congress Seek Reforms to
Highway Funding?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
unfounded fears, promote shared policy in evaluating the harms or benefits of teenage
goals, boost each other’s clout, and pad their vaping. Since the introduction of e-cigarettes
CEI Events Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
coffers. to the U.S. market, adolescent use of cigarettes
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. . . . . . . . . 14
Media Mentions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 (continued on page 3)
End Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Help Us Celebrate 35 Years of CEI
by Kent Lassman
us on June 20, in Washington, D.C., as we celebrate what Washington taxes, borrows, and spends. The
these past 35 years—and look forward to the next low-end estimates of the federal regulatory burden
three decades—at CEI’s annual dinner and reception. are $1.9 trillion per year—or nearly $15,000 for
But first, the reason for celebrating. every household. The 116th Congress has a historic
This winter, CEI hit the ground running. We opportunity to bring to light an accounting of how
started 2019 with the launch of the new edition the government operates and what values we
of Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the pursue through Washington’s edicts.
116th Congress. It offers some bold, yet practi- We have made some progress recently.
cal ideas for regulatory reform the new Congress Congress rediscovered the Congressional Review
should consider and pursue. Crucially, in a divided Act. Regulatory reform ideas proposed by CEI,
Washington, it finds some bipartisan avenues where such as a regulatory budget, have gained accep-
regulatory reform and restraint are possible. tance, if not full adoption, in Washington. We will
Such reform is crucial. Today, unaccountable keep pushing for stronger reforms, but we still have
regulatory agencies dominate how we live, work, a long way to go.
play, build, travel, prepare food, and heal one Today we find ourselves in a moment where
another. Typically, regulations do not lead the news good ideas, many with bipartisan pedigree, point
and are not an issue that will garner much attention. toward creating binding limits on the executive
Yet, virtually every aspect of our lives is subject to branch. Some seek to curtail the current administra-
regulations from Washington. Did you know it is a tion. Others would like to see fewer far-reaching
federal crime to sell chewing gum that is more that rules from unaccountable agencies that receive far
0.065 percent beeswax or to sell vegetable spa- too much deference from the courts. Taken together,
ghetti bigger than 0.11” in diameter? We have all it is time to move a regulatory reform agenda even
seen the photos of the Federal Register that look like further.
mountains of paper. How did we get there? As I noted, we have a lot of work ahead of us.
Article I of the Constitution bestows the power to But we’ll also have opportunities to celebrate and
make laws to Congress—and Congress alone. Yet, reflect on our accomplishments. Again, I hope you
for decades, Congress has delegated away much can join us on June 20 for our 35th anniversary
of its lawmaking authority to regulatory agencies. celebration.
Congress must reassert its constitutional authority
to better position itself to address issues proactively
rather than standing on the sidelines while the
executive and judicial branches of government take
the initiative.
Wayne Crews Discusses CEI Experts Present New Agenda for Congress on Capitol Hill
Regulatory Reform at New On February 4, CEI hosted a luncheon briefing on Capitol Hill for congressional
York Luncheon staffers to announce the release of Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for
On December the 116th Congress. Ben Lieberman, Richard Morrison, Iain Murray, Daniel
6, CEI Vice Press, and Marc Scribner discussed the pro-growth impacts of removing tariffs
President for and de-scheduling cannabis and shared key strategies for regulatory reform
Policy Wayne in finance, environmental, and transportation policy. CEI Government Affairs
Crews spoke at a Manager Canyon Brimhall moderated the panel.
policy luncheon
hosted by CEI
at the 21 Club
in New York
City. A longtime
deregulatory
expert, Crews
discussed the status of the Trump
administration’s two-for-one regulatory
rollback program, efforts to tame
“regulatory dark matter,” and prospects
for reform going forward.
Marlo Lewis Debates Carbon Left to right: Iain Murray, Marc Scribner, Ben Lieberman, Canyon Brimhall,
Tax Proposals on AEI Panel Daniel Press, and Richard Morrison
On November
14, CEI Senior Robert J. Smith Discusses Federal Land Management on
Fellow Marlo Heritage Foundation Panel
Lewis participated
on the panel Also on November 14, CEI Distinguished Fellow
discussion, “How Robert J. Smith participated in the panel, “How
Strong is the We Pay for Federal Lands and Innovative Funding
Conservative Solutions,” hosted by the Heritage Foundation, as
Case for a part of the half-day conference, “Challenges and
Carbon Tax?” Solutions to Improve Federal Lands Management.”
hosted by Joining Smith on the panel were Heritage Foundation
the American Policy Analyst Katie Tubb and Property and
Enterprise Institute (AEI). The panelists Environment Research Center (PERC) Research
debated the question: Would a tax on Fellows Holly Fretwell and Tate Watkins. PERC Policy
greenhouse gas emissions, whether and Partnerships Coordinator Hannah Downey
imposed by the U.S. alone or by moderated the panel.
international agreement, advance
both environmental improvement and Michelle Minton Discusses the Future of Beer in America
economic growth? Joining Lewis on
the panel were AEI Resident Scholar On February 15 at Atlas Brew Works in Washington,
Benjamin Zycher, Hudson Institute Senior D.C., the Federalist Society and the Pacific Legal
Fellow Irwin Stelzer, American Action Foundation hosted a screening of the documentary,
Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American Craft: What Beer Can Teach Us about
and AES Corporation Cofounder and Well-Crafted Laws. The screening was followed by a
Chairman Emeritus Roger Sant. discussion on the benefits of well-crafted beer laws
and the future of the beer market. The panel included
the film’s director, Matt Wood; Atlas Brew Works
founder Justin Cox; Matt Kibbe of Free the People;
and CEI’s Michelle Minton.
Google Public Policy Manager Max Left to right: Wayne Crews, Iain Murray (left) and Daniel Press
Pappas (left) and Service Brewing Peter Wallison, and Kent Lassman
Co. CEO and co-founder Kevin Ryan
Sam Kazman Aaron Brown Left to right: Iain Murray, Ryan Radia, Jessica Melugin, and Wayne Crews
Marlo Lewis Michelle Minton Marc Scribner (left) and Robert Poole
On December 10, the U.S. Supreme Cryptocurrency, and its supporting On November 15, the Food and Drug
Court agreed to consider overturning infrastructure known as the blockchain, Administration (FDA) announced
a precedent that has given enormous promise transformative innovations stringent new limits on the sale of
unilateral power to federal regulators, that could revolutionize everything electronic cigarettes, supposedly to
in a case called Kisor v. Wilkie. Under from payments to property registry. restrict teenagers’ access to vaping
the legal doctrine known as Auer (or Unfortunately, the Securities and products, which regulators claim
Seminole Rock) deference, courts Exchange Commission is moving can lead to smoking tobacco later.
are required to defer to regulatory toward regulating cryptocurrencies as Yet, whatever the FDA’s intentions,
agencies’ interpretation of the rules the “securities,” an action that would could its rules also restrict adults’ access
agencies themselves issue. bring said innovation to a screeching to e-cigarettes, making it harder
“Auer deference encourages halt. for smokers trying to quit to access
agencies to write vague regulations “Deeming cryptocurrency as a alternatives to combustible cigarettes.
so that they can make substantive ‘security’ would be disastrous, because And it won’t discourage teen use
decisions as to what the regulations the same red tape—both from SEC of nicotine, but rather encourage
mean long after the regulations are regulations and from Sarbanes- more dangerous means of nicotine
issued,” said CEI Attorney Devin Oxley and Dodd-Frank—could put consumption.
Watkins. “It is wonderful news for the cryptocurrency out of reach of middle- “In addition to making it harder for
rule of law that the Supreme Court class investors just as it has stock adults to switch to e-cigarettes, which
is reconsidering the destructive Auer in early stage growth companies,” the FDA admits are far safer than
deference doctrine. Hopefully this said CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau. smoking, the restrictions will have other
is also the first step to reconsidering “For cryptocurrency and other new unintended consequences,” said CEI
Chevron deference, where agencies technologies to flourish, consumers, Senior Fellow Michelle Minton. “Rather
are given deference as to what statutes investors and entrepreneurs must be than keeping adolescents away from
mean. Chevron allows agencies to protected from the overreach of the nicotine, the FDA’s new rules will
expand the scope of their own power SEC.” likely push adolescents to acquire
by reinterpreting what Congress wrote e-cigarettes through illicit channels or
as the Court held in City of Arlington v. simply use combustible cigarettes.”
FCC (2013).”
...END NOTES
Copyright of Laws? Food Options so Popular They Need to be
When the nonprofit Public.Resource.org tried to publish the Mandated
Peach State’s legal code to make it more accessible to the A Los Angeles city council member is so convinced of the
public, the state sued its founder, Carl Malamud, for copy- benefits of a vegan diet that he, quite literally, believes
right infringement. The state’s suit largely rested on the fact there ought to be a law mandating its availability—and not
that the official version of the state code is annotated by the just because of health benefits. In December, Councilman
private legal information company LexisNexis, which trans- Paul Koretz introduced a proposal for all concessions, at
fers its copyright on the annotations to the state. In October, both city-operated facilities and privately operated movie
the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Malamud, but theaters and venues, to offer at least one vegan protein
since then, state officials have resorted to blocking his efforts option. Koretz cited several studies that suggest a link
to purchase a copy of the code—despite the unambiguous between the dairy industry and the environment, reported
language of the court’s ruling: “The resulting work is intrinsi- CBS Los Angeles. “Vegan eating is booming, but good laws
cally public domain material, belonging to the People, and, like this do not come soon enough,” said Ben Williamson,
as such, must be free for publication by all.” senior international media director for People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA). There was no word from Koretz
An Expensive Game of Parking Musical Chairs or PETA on what to do about the mountains of food waste
Street parking is notoriously difficult to come by in New York, resulting from unsold tofu corn dogs.
so it’s no surprise the city enforces parking regulations rather
strictly. However, as NY1 reports, one Queens resident’s car Vermont Man Gives New Twist to Art in Public Places.
was recently towed after she parked in a legal space. The Obtaining a building permit can cause frustrating delays,
problem? The city changed the parking spot’s status unex- but 10 years? That’s how long one Vermont resident says
pectedly and then punished her for it. Nicole LaVeglia says he’s been fighting local authorities to build a garage on his
she parked her car at an intersection in Queens’ Maspeth property. Ted Pelkey, of Westford, Vermont, says he got so
neighborhood on January 2, just after 7 AM. About 45 fed up that he decided to give the town’s planners a piece of
minutes later, a worker from the city’s transportation depart- his mind—in the form of a sculpture of a giant raised middle
ment arrived to drill a hole in the sidewalk to install … a new finger. Pelkey says the offending gesture is meant only for
“no parking” sign. Then a police tow truck hauled away local bureaucrats. “It was critical to me to make sure that my
LaVeglia’s car. LaVeglia, who was alerted to the incident neighbors and the people who live in this town understood
by a neighbor, was issued a $185 fine, which she says she that I didn’t put that up there for them,” Pelkey said. “It is aimed
plans to fight. directly at the people who sit in our town office”—except for
the town clerk, whom Pelkey described as “a great person.”