Full Idea
Much criticism of the original covering-law model objects that it lets in too much. It seems we can explain Henry's failure to get pregnant by his taking birth control pills, and we can explain the storm by the falling barometer.
Gist of Idea
Covering-law explanation lets us explain storms by falling barometers
Source
Nancy Cartwright (How the Laws of Physics Lie [1983], 2.0)
Book Reference
Cartwright,Nancy: 'How the Laws of Physics Lie' [OUP 2002], p.45
A Reaction
I take these examples to show that true explanations must be largely causal in character. The physicality of causation is what matters, not 'laws'. I'd say the same of attempts to account for causation through counterfactuals.