All Articles Tagged Regulation

Julie Jacobson | 06/10 07:34 AM, 0 Comments

It looks like the Federal Trade Commission won’t subsidize newspapers by taxing technology after all. They must have read my memo (followed by CEA chief Gary Shapiro’s plea in the Huffington Post). In a ridiculous proposal to bail out journalism, the FTC had considered a 5% tax on consumer electronics, which could raise about $4 billion per year. (CLARIFICATION: The proposal was not created by the FTC, just considered by the commission.) The money would be used to subsidize poorly run news outlets suffering the “challenges … of the Internet… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 05/04 04:12 AM, 3 Comments

At a time when there aren’t even enough instructors to train the tens of thousands of contractors that need lead-paint training, the EPA has decided to make its rules even stricter. The Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to homes built before 1978. Originally, the onerous lead regulations included an opt-out provision that largely limited the regulation’s applicability to older homes that were the residences of pregnant women or children under six years old. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports that the agency now is eliminating the… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 11/21 08:15 AM, 0 Comments

Oh Canada! I was just going to escape to you, but now I see Ontario's using California as the model for energy regulations. Canada's thestar.com reports: "We're always looking at ways we need to improve standards with appliances," Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said Thursday after California's energy regulator voted to require dramatically lower electricity use in flat-screen TV models starting in 2011. "Over the next few months we'll be looking at whether we need to set some additional new standards." And then there's this: It's time the Ontario government considered… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 11/21 07:40 AM, 15 Comments

In its quest to show the world just how green a state can be, California should not stop at its ban on inefficient TVs. We believe that California -- indeed all states, with the aid of manufacturers and consumers -- can do so much more to save the planet. Here are just a few suggestions on how we can all cut back, with or without mandates from politicians. Even/odd air conditioning daysOne family/one laptopOnly one hearing aid per person (It's only fair – some people have no hearing at all)Ban… View this story