Economists who have studied alcohol prohibition in the U.S. talk of a political coalition of “bootleggers and Baptists” that kept it going for more than a decade. Bootleggers were for it for obvious monetary reasons (it put them in business), whereas the Baptists believed it would please God.
The latest example of a bootlegger-and-Baptist-style coalition is one that got the EPA (religious zealots who worship the earth goddess)to ban the sale of oil-based house paint in one-gallon cans in the Mid-Atlantic region. The EPA claims that opening a one-gallon can of the stuff causes too many “volatile organic compounds” to escape into the air, causing global warming and possibly the end of life on the planet.
For now, you can buy (watered down) oil-based paint, but only in quart-sized cans. The EPA says the little cans are not as polluting. The paint industry (modern-day “bootleggers”) is apparently quite pleased. As anyone who has ever strolled through a hardware store knows, buying paint by the quart is much more expensive than buying it by the gallon or five gallon can. Around here, it now costs about double for a gallon of oil-based house paint. On top of that, the quality has gone down the tubes, thanks to the earth goddess worshippers at the EPA.
So there you have it. The paint industry conspired with EPA bureaucrats to engage in what would normally be illegal price fixing under the antitrust laws (which should be junked, by the way). But since it’s done in the name of saving the planet, the sky’s the limit when it comes to paint prices.
To add insult to injury, the paint industry is sure to wage a hypocritical PR campaign boasting about what a “good corporate citizen” it is with all its professed concern for the environment. What a whitewash.
1:09 pm on May 25, 2005
