Blog
Department of Energy is coming after our light bulbs – again
We have already said goodbye to the incandescent light bulb, thanks to federal regulations. Will its replacement be next? Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency regulations…
Deseret
The Biden admin wants to change home appliances, Republicans are pushing back
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Deseret News about republican pushback to home appliance regulation: Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told Fox News the…
Blog
RJ Smith (1937-2024)
Freedom has lost a true champion with the passing of longtime CEI analyst RJ Smith. RJ’s tireless advocacy for private property rights will be especially…
Blog
The Biden administration once again puts its climate agenda above home affordability
The Biden administration talks a good game about making housing more affordable, but in truth it is actively boosting costs through expensive climate change…
Blog
Two cheers for the gas stove protections in FY 2024 spending bill
There is a provision in the recently-passed appropriations bill prohibiting any federal funds from being used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to…
The Hill
The right way to neutralize China’s unfair economic advantage on climate
There’s a big push in Congress to eliminate any competitive edge handed to China as a result of domestic and international climate change policies. The…
Daily Caller
Fresh Report Explains How International Climate Treaties Benefit China At America’s Expense
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited in Daily Caller on the Kigali Amendment: “China’s status as a developing nation in U.N. treaties has created an unfair…
News Release
China’s Beneficial Status as Developing Nation in UN Treaties Disadvantages US, Must End
China is now the world’s second largest economy and the largest exporter, yet it is designated as a developing nation in United Nations (UN) treaties.
Study
Forcing the UN’s Hand on China
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…
Washington Times
Environmental group pushes retail associates to discourage gas stove purchases
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited in the Washington Times about appliances: Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow in environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Fox News
Biden admin finalizes environmental regulations targeting clothes washers, dryers
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited in Fox News about environmental regulations targeting appliances: “What we’re learning is that the government ought to get out…
Fox News
Why gas stove owners should still be worried
In response to a strong public backlash, the Biden administration Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to backtrack on its proposed new energy efficiency regulation of stoves…
Blog
Congress takes on anti-consumer furnace regulation
CEI suggested five bad appliance regulations Congress should reject with the Congressional Review Act last November. Now, Congress has taken up the first target…
Blog
Federal courts to the rescue on bad appliance regulations?
The US Supreme Court recently heard a case that could impact how much deference judges give to regulatory agencies. To be certain, any relief…
Reason
Bipartisan Tax Credit Bonanza
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Reason on bipartisan tax credit bonanza: The Energy Department’s final rule “is less stringent than the initial proposal that…
E&E News
DOE scales back stove rule. Republicans still hate it.
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on E&E News about government scale down in effort to limit consumer appliances: “While the Department of Energy’s…
News Release
Biden Energy Department Unveils New Rules Against Residential Cooking Appliances
Today the U.S. Energy Department unveiled its final rule mandating energy efficiency standards for residential cooking appliances such as gas stoves. CEI Senior…
Fox News
Biden admin backs off gas stove crackdown after widespread pushback
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Fox News addressing the gas stove crackdown: “A reasonable regulation is better than an unreasonable regulation,” Ben Lieberman,…
The National Law Review
Three Legal Takeaways from Fifth Circuit Decision Scrubbing Away DOE Rules on Appliance Efficiency
CEI’s 2018 petition was cited on The National Law Review about a Fifth Circuit Decision on appliance efficiency: In 2018, the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
E&E News
DOE in 2024: Hydrogen, LNG and climate
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited in E&E News on the appliance standards process: “[The gas industry’s] concern broadly — and it’s my concern too —…
Town Hall
Biden Admin Targets Fridges, Freezers In Latest Slew of Appliance Crackdown
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Townhall about the latest appliance crackdown: Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox…
Fox News
Biden admin launched an aggressive campaign targeting home appliances with eco regulations in 2023
CEI’s Ben Lieberman was cited in Fox News on the targeting of home appliances: “Ostensibly, these DOE efficiency standards are supposed to benefit consumers. That’s…
Fox News
Biden anti-consumer crusade targets 4 more types of appliances
2023 was an unusually bad year for appliance regulations, and future years won’t be much better unless Congress finds a way to stop…
Fox News
Biden admin aims to push towns, cities to adopt green energy building codes: ‘Very suspicious’
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Fox News regarding green energy building codes: “It’s a lot of money, and it’s clearly designed to push the…
Blog
Defense bill amendment could help undo China’s unfair advantage in environmental treaties
Congress is currently considering the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA), including a long list of amendments added to the bill.
Blog
Wall Street Journal reports consumer frustrations with over-regulated appliances
2023 is turning into the year of bad appliance regulations. Since January, CEI has submitted comments critical of proposed Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency…
The Wall Street Journal
Why Does My ‘Efficient’ Dishwasher Take a Zillion Minutes for a Load?
Competitive Enterprise Institute was cited in the Wall Street Journal on dishwasher efficiency: The average standard cycle time for a dishwasher has increased from…
PJ Media
Biden Uses Cold War Law to Nuke Your Gas Furnace
PJ Media cites CEI’s Ben Lieberman: The money comes from a presidential slush fund authorized by the Democrats’ trillion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act (that did not…
Fox News
Biden invokes wartime powers to fund electric heaters as he cracks down on gas appliances
Blog
Biden admin appliance regulations are bad for small businesses and homeowners
Department of Energy (DOE) bureaucrats are making 2023 a bad year for homeowners with an avalanche of proposed and final appliance regulations impacting stoves, washing…
Testimony
Ben Lieberman Testimony: Hearing on “Burdensome Regulations: Examining the Effects ofDepartment of Energy Regulations on America’s Job Creators.”
Chair Williams, ranking member Velazquez, and members of this committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Ben Lieberman and I…
Blog
5 bad appliance regulations Congress should reject with the Congressional Review Act
This is the third article in CEI’s Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans. It isn’t just gas stoves. The Biden administration has…
Blog
Air travel will continue to increase—unless grounded by climate change policies
The Duke of Wellington was said to have opposed the growth of railroads in 19th-century Britain because they would “only encourage the common people to…
Blog
UN Montreal Protocol meeting begins in Nairobi
The United Nations’ 35th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) begins this week in…
Blog
New EPA air conditioner regulation certain to get homeowners heated up
Another Friday news dump, another bad Biden administration appliance regulation slipped in ahead of the weekend. Last Friday it was one targeting air conditioners –…
Fox News
Biden admin issues eco regulations impacting air conditioners, refrigerators
Fox News cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on EPA regulations targeting HFCs: “This is likely to raise the costs — it may raise it substantially…
Fox News
Biden’s depletion of emergency oil stocks comes back into focus amid Israel-Hamas war, price surge
Fox News cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: “There are a lot of reasons why the Biden administration should not have…
Fox News
Biden’s depletion of emergency oil stocks comes back into focus amid Israel-Hamas war, price surge
“There are a lot of reasons why the Biden administration should not have used the SPR to try to bring down prices — one of…
Blog
House Republicans try defunding the home appliance regulators
This year began with a powerful consumer backlash to the suggestion from a Biden administration official that gas stoves may be banned, followed by…
Blog
Biden administration finalizes costly and unnecessary furnace regulations
There’s a lot of consumer anger over pending federal regulations targeting stoves, but Biden administration bureaucrats are also going after dishwashers, refrigerators,…
Fox News
Biden admin issues restrictions on gas furnaces in latest war on appliances
Fox News cites Ben Liberman on the war against home appliances: “It’s just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything…
Blog
Now the Biden administration is targeting your next water heater
As discussed in recent CEI testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Biden administration Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed an avalanche…
Comment
Comments on the Department of Energy’s Proposed Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Water Heaters
I. INTRODUCTION The undersigned free market and consumer organizations have a longstanding interest in bringing to light the deleterious consequences of federal regulations, which are…
Blog
The Regulatory Assault on Gas Stoves – And Consumer Freedom
This is the debut article in CEI’s Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans. Gas stoves provide tens of…
Testimony
CEI’s Ben Lieberman testifies before Energy and Commerce Committee on DOE efficiency standards for home appliances
Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security U.S. House of Representatives 2123 Rayburn House Office Building…
Blog
How the Inflation Reduction Act takes aim at gas stoves
The American people have reacted very negatively to potential federal regulations targeting natural gas stoves in favor of electric versions. But beyond regulations, there…
Fox News
Biden turns the lights out on yet another one of your home’s essentials
Don’t expect to see incandescent light bulbs for sale anymore. They are now an illegal product thanks to a Biden administration regulation, and…
Federalist Society
Explainer Episode 58 – Natural Gas Bans, Appliance Efficiency Standards, and Consumer Choice
Ben Lieberman, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute joins James W. Coleman, Professor of Law, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law to discuss…
Fox News
Biden’s new crackdown on another appliance will be worse than gas stoves
We have seen a big consumer backlash in 2023 over Biden administration bureaucrats targeting gas stoves, but that could pale in comparison to…
Experts warn Biden admin’s water heater crackdown will hike prices, reduce consumer choice
Fox News cites Ben Lieberman on consumer choice issues: “One of the things about these appliance standards — they’re all problematic — is…