Ben Lieberman is a senior fellow who specializes in environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Lieberman has returned to CEI after serving seven years as a senior counsel on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. As a congressional staffer, he worked on a number of issues related to fuels and vehicles, including the Renewable Fuel Standard and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. He also worked on energy infrastructure permitting reform, home appliance energy efficiency standards, and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Previously in his career, Lieberman completed a decade-long stint at CEI as well as five years at the Heritage Foundation. He will continue to work on energy and environmental policy issues in his latest position at CEI, with an emphasis on reforming the federal permitting process for projects that are subject to it.
Lieberman has published hundreds of op-eds and articles, including in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, Weekly Standard, and National Review. He has appeared on a number of radio and television programs on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and CNBC. He has also testified before Congress on a number of energy and environmental issues.
Lieberman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, and his law degree from the George Washington University School of Law.
Authored by Ben Lieberman
News
DOE adopts CEI view on appliance water and energy limits
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released new rules on appliance energy and water limits Friday that agreed with the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI)…
Senate votes to repeal Biden rule against water heaters
Today the U.S. Senate voted on a joint resolution to repeal a Biden-era Energy Department rule imposing unwarranted energy efficiency restrictions on consumer water…
Congress passes resolution repealing Biden energy rule against freezers, walk-in coolers: CEI statement
Congress successfully passed a resolution repealing a Biden Energy Department rule that would have imposed needless restrictions on walk-in coolers and freezers. CEI energy policy…
Blog
EPA right to propose repeal of 2024 power plant mercury rule
- By: Ben Lieberman
The Obama EPA’s 2012 rule for mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants may have been the agency’s least defensible measure ever under the Clean Air…
Latest rescissions bill finally kills spending on 1987 Montreal Protocol
- By: Ben Lieberman
The most recent congressional rescissions package will block $9 billion in spending, including funds for United Nations (UN) environmental treaties such as the 1987…
Are we losing the subsidized clean energy race to China? Let’s hope so
- By: Ben Lieberman
Do we need to retain the Green New Deal-style subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act or risk losing the clean energy race to China? Many…
Op-Eds/Articles
Wall Street Journal
How to Beat the High Cost of Cooling
- By: Ben Lieberman
President Trump doesn’t hide his dislike of federal appliance regulations, from water-stingy shower heads that he says make it difficult “to take care of my…
WSJ Opinion
How to Beat the High Cost of Cooling
- By: Ben Lieberman
President Trump doesn’t hide his dislike of federal appliance regulations, from water-stingy shower heads that he says make it difficult “to take care of my…
Fox News
Trump’s Energy Department is taking back our home appliances from berserk bureaucrats
- By: Ben Lieberman
In quite possibly the sharpest regulatory U-turn thus far in 2025, the Trump Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to roll back home appliance regulations…
Studies
Forcing the UN’s Hand on China
- By: Ben Lieberman
Most United Nations (UN) environmental treaties are a bad deal for America that are made worse by classifying China as a developing nation and thus…
Would More Electric Vehicles Be Good for the Environment?
- By: Ben Lieberman
Executive Summary The environmental advantages of electric vehicles (EVs) over internal combustion engine-powered vehicles are as obvious as the lack of a tailpipe emitting air…
The American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act: Myth vs. Fact
- By: Ben Lieberman
Beginning in the 1970s, concerns that the refrigerants used in most air conditioners and refrigerators were leaking into the air and depleting the Earth’s ozone…
Citations
The Washington Free Beacon
Mainstream Media Reports Cite ‘Nonpartisan’ Research Firm to Trash Trump’s Repeal of Green Energy Subsidies. Its Leader Helped Biden Write Those Subsidies Into Law.
- By: Ben Lieberman
In other words, Energy Innovation didn’t properly analyze the impacts greater wind and solar reliance have on consumers, Stein told the Washington Free Beacon. “They make…
Impact Of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act – ‘Clean Energy Ghost Towns’
- By: Ben Lieberman
MRCTV cited CEI’s expert on Inflation Reduction Act Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute recently testified before the House Oversight Committee on the impacts of…
Washington Free Beacon
Free the Gas Stoves: Trump’s Energy Department Axes Dozens of Biden Appliance, Energy Regulations
- By: Ben Lieberman
Washington Free Beacon cited CEI’s expert on appliance energy regulations “This is very good news for consumer freedom,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the…
Regulatory Comments
CEI Comments on Proposed Environmental Protection Agency Rule Repealing 2024 Mercury Provisions for Coal-Fired Power Plants
- By: Ben Lieberman
August 11, 2025 Environmental Protection Agency: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units Notice…
In Defense of Consumer Choice: CEI Supports DOE’s Withdrawal of Overreaching Regulation on Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products
- By: Ben Lieberman
Department of Energy: Energy Conservation Program: Proposed Withdrawal of Determination of Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products as a Covered Consumer Product Notice of Proposed Withdrawal of Determination:…
CEI Comments to Department of Justice Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force
Dear Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force Members: We appreciate this opportunity to provide comments to the task force regarding anticompetitive laws and regulations. There is often…