Did We Mention Regulatory Costs? Part 5

This stuff just falls off trees today.

Wisconsin, ever the leader in reg/tax costs, seeks NEW reg-cost applications!!

And we have a NanoNanny!

Companies in Wisconsin and around the world are developing new ways to manufacture teeny, tiny structures measured in atoms and molecules that are finding their way into consumer products ranging from hockey sticks to sunscreen. Are there risks? The state legislature’s special committee on nanotechnology is attempting to understand the highly technical and fast-advancing field and determine what regulatory role, if any, the state should play.

Hmmmmmmm.

...the bright minds toiling in nanotech labs are crafting structures out of more benign materials such as carbon. The danger lies in what the new structures, microscopic nanotubes or spherical “buckyballs,” could do if inhaled or ingested by humans.

....munch, munch, munch a bunch of nano carbon strings.... Doesn't scan.

Not to worry. For nano, Wisconsin has a nanny!!

“We don’t know yet what the long-term effects on humans could be. The research’s just not there,” says State Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison), who serves on the special nanotech committee and has been the legislature’s most vocal member on the issue. She first proposed creating a state registry in 2007 requiring companies to report on their nanotech activities.

Oh, sure.

The Wisconsin Technology Council, a group representing tech businesses in the state, has opposed the creation of a mandatory nanotech registry in Wisconsin, arguing it would be time-consuming for existing companies and a deterrent to new ones. “We think it’s a pretty unworkable proposal either at the local or state level,” says President Tom Still. “The state ought to be following what’s happening at the federal level. We don’t want to have a competitive disadvantage in what’s an emerging industry.”

The Classic Line, (one of the Three Great Lies) voiced by NanoNanny:

“We would be able to say to any company, we’re going to help you do things the right way,” [Berceau] says.

A letter to the committee from Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communications at UW-Madison who’s currently a visiting fellow at Harvard University, cautions Wisconsin that “taking a unilateral approach to local regulation will likely have a chilling effect on the climate of innovation surrounding nanotechnology in Wisconsin.” He reassures the committee that “funding for additional research and development of regulations is well underway at the federal level.”

But...but....but....that might mean that Wisconsin can't impose its own Special Burdens!

No NanoNanny for YOU!