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Cato Daily Dispatch for July 14, 2003

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Litigators Prepare to Take Action on Climate Change
Opposition Grows Among States and Cities to Patriot Act
Health Care Workers Criticize Smallpox Vaccination Program

Litigators Prepare to Take Action on Climate Change

"First it was tobacco and asbestos. Then it was the turn of the food sector. Now litigators have yet another target in their sights: those responsible for climate change," according to the Financial Times.

"Two cases have already been launched in the US courts. More are in the pipeline, according to the newly formed Climate Justice Programme. This is a collaborative venture involving lawyers, scientists and more than 40 civil groups supporting the use of the law to combat climate change."

"It believes that international and domestic laws - covering human rights, product liability, public nuisance, pollution and harm to other states - will be an effective weapon in forcing emission cuts and make perpetrators liable for the consequences of their actions."

In an article written for the Cato Institute, "Drought-Inspired Climate Panic," Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies Patrick Michaels asks, "Are we getting drier? The answer is no. U.S. precipitation has increased about 10 percent over the 20th century, an increase of around three inches in the last 100 years.

"So, since precipitation is increasing, if global warming causes droughts, then a big increase in temperature must be driving a huge evaporation change. But when we plot temperatures observed in the Middle Atlantic over the last 100 years, changes are even smaller than the minuscule values observed nationally. Even in the hottest years, evaporation is only 1.5 inches above average."

Opposition Grows Among States and Cities to Patriot Act

"Activists in tiny Belfast, Maine, hope to persuade community leaders Tuesday to join a growing number of states and cities opposed to the USA Patriot Act," reports USA Today

"Passed by Congress shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act gives the government sweeping powers to monitor citizens suspected of having ties to terrorists. Critics say it's a threat to civil liberties.

"Three states - Hawaii, Alaska and Vermont - plus 134 cities and counties have approved resolutions calling for a repeal of the act, according to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Nearly half of those resolutions - 65 - have been approved since April 1."

In a recent commentary, "The USA Patriot Act: We Deserve Better," Senior Fellow Robert A. Levy explains why "you should be deeply troubled by the looming sacrifice of civil liberties at the altar of national security.

"Any attempt by government to chip away at constitutionally guaranteed rights must be subjected to the most painstaking scrutiny to determine whether less invasive means could accomplish the same ends," he adds. "The USA Patriot anti-terrorism bill does not survive that demanding test. In a free society, we deserve better."

Health Care Workers Criticize Smallpox Vaccination Program

"Analyzing what went wrong with the civilian [smallpox vaccination] program, insiders and outsiders point in part to the government's mistakes and in part to the political and even psychological resistance of the doctors and nurses who were meant to carry out the vaccinations," according to an editorial in The Washington Post "Health workers say the government failed to consult widely enough with hospital administrators and doctors, who, short-staffed already, feared the vaccination program would prove too costly and take staff away from other tasks."

Dr. William Bicknell and Kenneth Bloem, authors of a forthcoming Cato study on smallpox, write in a recent op-ed: "The president's December 2002 vaccination plan is sound. The military is on track, with more than 450,000 vaccinated, no deaths, no lasting side effects and no harm to any immunocompromised persons. We do not believe that our government is vaccinating the military just to make a political statement. What's wrong on the civilian side?

"As more people are vaccinated pre-attack, fewer are at risk post-attack. There are fewer to vaccinate and infection of others is more difficult. Therefore, give citizens a choice and promote the voluntary vaccination of all healthy adults."

Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org