Foundation for Economic Education » nanny state

Environmentalists Attack “Plush” Toilet Paper

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:24:39 +0000

“It is a fight over toilet paper: the kind that is blanket-fluffy and getting fluffier so fast that manufacturers are running out of synonyms for “soft” (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective).

“It’s a menace, environmental groups say — and a dark-comedy example of American excess.

“The reason, they say, is that plush U.S. toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that were decades or even a century old. They want Americans, like Europeans, to wipe with tissue made from recycled paper goods.” (Washington Post, Thursday)

Speechless.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Pride and the Nanny State” by Stephen Kinsella

California Takes Climate Change Battle to the Couch

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:25:31 +0000

“Big screen TVs are particularly energy-hungry so the California Energy Commission has proposed tough efficiency standards for new sets being sold in 2011. The CEC said the new standard, which has drawn criticism from consumer electronics companies, would reduce consumption per set by an average of 33 per cent. More aggressive standards will be phased in by 2013.” (Financial Times, Tuesday)

Now they’re really hitting where it hurts.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Government Versus the Environment” by Russell Madden

Group Urges Ban On Driving While Talking On Cell

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:28:56 +0000

“The National Safety Council called Monday for a nationwide ban on cell phone use while driving, a prohibition opposed by the industry. ‘Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash,’ said Janet Froetscher, the council’s president and CEO, in a news release, referring to a 1997 New England Journal of Medicine examination of hospital records.” (CNN, Tuesday)

Can we ban groups that urge bans?

FEE Timely Classic:
“The Nanny State” by Don Boureaux