The Doug Collins Podcast
AUDIO: How the Government Regulates Every Room in your House: From Shower Heads to Dishwashers
Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman joins The Doug Collins Podcast to discuss regulations in households: Click here to read more.
Blog
U.S. Geological Survey Study Underscores Extent of Import Dependence for Critical Minerals
The U.S. Geological Survey’s recent report, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022, documents the significant extent to which America relies on imports of numerous critical minerals,…
Blog
CEI Leads Coalition Letter to Department of Energy Defending Freedom of Choice for Light Bulbs
As I described in my recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, A Regulatory Burden For Every Room In Your House, the Biden administration has embarked…
Comment
Coalition Opposes Proposed DOE Lightbulb Rule
Re: Docket Number EERE-BT-STD-0005: Department of Energy: Energy Conservation Program: Backstop Requirement for General Service Lamps: Notification of Proposed Rule: 86 FR 70,755 (December…
News Release
President Biden to Discuss Tax Breaks for Wealthy Americans with Car Manufacturers
President Joe Biden plans to meet with the CEOs of General Motors and Ford to discuss proposals to subsidize electric vehicle purchases that were included…
The Wall Street Journal
A Regulatory Burden for Every Room of Your House
Skyrocketing inflation, empty store shelves, rising crime and endless Covid restrictions have been grabbing headlines, but lesser-noticed regulatory mischief from the Biden administration may prove…
Blog
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Provisions In Build Back Better – A Slippery Slope?
There are many carrots for low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels in the Build Back Better legislation passed by the House and now being considered…
Blog
America Can Keep Its Cool If Senate Rejects Kigali Amendment
The Biden administration apparently wants to add air conditioning to the long list of items becoming more expensive. This latest threat to consumers comes from…
World News Group
Pandemic Pileup
World News Group cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on the current supply chain crisis: Ben Lieberman is a senior fellow at the…
News Release
New Biden Admin Rule Unnecessarily Tells Americans How Much Water They Can Use in the Shower
The Biden Administration today announced a finalized rule restricting the amount of water showerheads with multiple nozzles can use. The final rule reverts back…
Blog
For Energy Infrastructure Projects, Even Supreme Court Victories Mean Nothing
In the last two years, two different natural gas pipeline projects were the subject of Supreme Court cases, and both times the project developers achieved…
Blog
Is It Finally Goodbye for Incandescent Light Bulbs—and Consumer Choice?
President George W. Bush initiated the federal government’s targeting of incandescent light bulbs in energy legislation he signed in 2007. Subsequent Department of Energy…
Blog
Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Cannot Undo Biden Administration’s Anti-Drilling Agenda
The Biden administration seems to know the playbook for pretending to respond to high gasoline prices. First, blame big oil for price gouging and launch…
Blog
Another Gasoline Price Increase, Another Useless Federal Trade Commission Investigation
President Biden has officially requested the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate high gasoline prices. Unfortunately, this diversionary tactic has a long history and…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Urging Senators to Vote Against Ratification of Kigali Amendment
November 17, 2021United States SenateUnited States CapitolWashington, DC 20510 Dear Senator: The undersigned organizations strongly urge you to vote against ratification of the Kigali Amendment…
Blog
The Most Wasteful Infrastructure Bill Ever?
The $1.2 trillion dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be signed into law by President Biden on Monday. If it is like past…
News Release
Biden Methane Rule would Cause Decline in U.S. Energy Jobs and Higher Prices at the Gas Pump
This week, the Biden Administration announced proposed rules on methane emissions, targeting energy exploration and production in the oil and gas industry. Timed to…
Blog
Electric Vehicle Windfall Still in Big Spending Bill
Congress’ big spending bill, now called the Build Back Better Act, is evolving from truly terrible to somewhat less terrible. On energy, the highly…
News Release
CEI Experts Weigh In on Reconciliation Framework Agreed to by White House and Congressional Democrats
WASHINGTON – The White House and congressional democrats announced agreement on a “framework” for a reconciliation bill that will spend nearly $2 trillion and includes…
Blog
CEI and AP Polls Agree: Americans Don’t Want to Spend Much on Climate Change
Both the recent Competitive Enterprise Institute and Associated Press polls on climate change find that a clear majority of Americans have at least…
Blog
Are Sky High California Gas Prices in Store for the Rest of the U.S.?
Want to know how high gasoline prices can go thanks to administration policies? Just look at where they’re already at in California. At $4.55…
The Washington Examiner
Biden Declares War on Showerheads
President Joe Biden may lack the authority to reach into your shower and turn the dial down in order to save water. Still,…
News Release
Biden EPA Rule Strictly Limiting Common Refrigerant Will Increase Costs Air for Consumers and Businesses
WASHINGTON – The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to strictly limit the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the most commonly used refrigerant in air conditioners…
Blog
Cost of Air Conditioning to Heat up, Thanks to New EPA Climate Regulation
We can soon add air conditioning to the long list of products contributing to inflation, thanks to a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule,…
Comment
Comments to DOE Regarding Water Use Limits For Showers
Docket Number EERE-2021-BT-STD-0016; Energy Conservation Program: Definition of Showerhead; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking And Public Meeting 86 FR 38,594 (July 22, 2021) Comments Submitted by…
Blog
Exorbitant Tax Incentives for Electric Vehicles to Be Voted on in House Ways and Means Committee
If electric vehicles (EVs) are to be judged by the amount of tax incentives needed to induce Americans to choose them, the latest provisions…
Inside Sources
Dakota Access Pipeline Brings Power To The People
Activists opposed to American energy projects like the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline often pretend that the impacted communities are solidly on their side. In reality,…
Bloomberg Law
Biden Starts With Federal Buildings to Combat Climate Emissions
Bloomberg Law cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on efficiency standards: Free-market groups broadly said they don’t object if the White House wants to fix up…
Blog
Washington’s War against the Incandescent Light Bulb Is Back
The Trump administration called a truce in the regulatory war against the incandescent light bulb by declining to target them with additional efficiency standards, but…
News Release
Senate-Passed Infrastructure Bill Is a Gigantic, Counterproductive Spending Bill: CEI Analysis
The Senate today passed a complicated, controversial $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. CEI policy experts criticized the mammoth bill as a plan that will do…
News Release
Biden Administration Will Force Americans to Buy More Expensive Cars That They Don’t Want
President Joe Biden plans to announce several measures aimed at lowering carbon emissions, including a new rulemaking for more stringent CAFE standards and an executive…
Blog
War on Natural Gas—End User Edition
No matter that it is clean-burning, domestically plentiful, and affordable, natural gas is demonized by the Biden administration as a fossil fuel and for that…
Reason
Trump Slashed Regulations That Stopped Americans From Having a Good Shower. Biden Is Bringing Them Back.
Reason cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on DOE regulations: If regulations did allow multi-headed shower units, “some manufacturer out there will make…
Blog
Free Market Organizations Oppose Costly EPA Air Conditioner Regulations
With temperatures in Washington D.C. topping 90 degrees in recent days and with most of the summer yet to go, it is hard to imagine…
Comment
Comments to EPA Regarding the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act
Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0044; Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Establishing the Allowance Allocation and Trading Program Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act; Proposed Rule 86 FR 27,150…
Blog
China Ratifies Kigali Amendment, At America’s Expense
On June 17, China ratified the Kigali Amendment, the United Nations treaty provision that restricts future production of a widely used class of refrigerants…
Real Clear Policy
Is Joe Biden Coming After Your Air Conditioner?
America’s air conditioning season is underway, and millions of unlucky homeowners whose systems break down between now and the fall will be in for an…
Blog
Biden Administration to Impose Wave of Costly Regulations on Home Appliances
The spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda) has been released. It’s the roadmap of federal regulatory priorities, and being…
Blog
Lessons from the Demise of ANWR and Keystone XL
Two iconic North American oil projects, federal leasing in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Keystone XL pipeline carrying Canadian crude to U.S.
Blog
Does Joe Biden Want to Do to Car Prices What California Has Done to Gas Prices?
Most Americans taking to the roads this Memorial Day weekend will be paying around $3 per gallon of gasoline, but in California the number…
News Release
Biden Seeks to Spend Hundreds of Billions in Taxpayer Money on Cars Very Few Americans Want
WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden spoke today about electric vehicles in a speech at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. As part of his…
Blog
The Colonial Pipeline Shutdown May Shift Infrastructure Debate in a More Useful Direction
If there is a silver lining to the cyberattack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline and left many East Coast drivers waiting in line for…
Inside Sources
Is the Biden Administration Coming After Your Air Conditioner?
We’re reaching the point where it is easier to list the things the Biden administration isn’t doing in the name of fighting climate change. One such Environmental…
Blog
EPA Proposes Rule Cracking Down on Refrigerants
On April 30, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a notice of proposed rulemaking to create a rationing scheme for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a widely…
Blog
IEA Study Quantifies the Need for More Mined Materials in Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Economy
CEI and others have noted the substantial need for mined materials to transition away from fossil fuels. Now a May 5 International Energy Agency…
Blog
House Hearing Spells out Extent of Proposed Subsidies for Electric Vehicles
Democrats in the House of Representatives really want Americans to ditch their gasoline-powered cars and trucks for electric vehicles (EVs). A May 5 hearing…
The New York Times
E.P.A. to Sharply Limit Powerful Greenhouse Gases
The New York Post cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on air conditioner and refrigerator regulations: Critics say that the new regulations will…
News Release
New EPA HFC Rule Bad News for Homeowners, Car Owners, Businesses
Citing climate change concerns, the EPA announced today a proposed rule curtailing production and consumption of a crucial chemical compound used for refrigerators, air…
Comment
CEI Comments to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Regarding Creation of the Office of Public Participation
View Full Document as PDF Re: Docket Number AD21-9-000: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Creation of the Office of Public Participation Comments of the…
Blog
Minimal Environmental Benefits in the Infrastructure Plan’s Spending Spree on Electric Vehicles
As discussed in a previous post, the $174 billion for electric vehicles (EVs) in the Biden administration’s recently proposed $2.3 trillion dollar infrastructure…
Blog
Can Money Buy Love When It Comes to Electric Vehicles? The Biden Administration Wants to Try with Its Infrastructure Package
There is a long history of Washington declaring gasoline-powered cars a thing of the past and subsidizing alternatives to replace them. It has never worked,…
Blog
Are Electric Vehicles the Right Choice for Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Consumers? Much Depends on Battery Life
A recent Wall Street Journal story compares an electric vehicle (EV) with a similarly sized internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle over their useful lives,…
Blog
Contrasting Approaches to Energy Policy on Display in Two House Energy and Commerce Committee Bills
It is not hard to distinguish bad federal energy policy from good. Bad policy picks winners and losers among competing energy sources and technologies by…
Blog
Does the Rebound Effect Undercut Savings from Energy Efficiency Standards?
There are plenty of reasons to oppose Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency standards for home appliances such as those for air conditioners, refrigerators, clothes washer/dryers,…
News Release
House Democrats’ Climate Bill Will Restrict Domestic Energy Sources and Raise Americans’ Utility Bills
House Energy and Commerce committee Democrats today introduced a new bill, the so-called CLEAN Future Act, aimed at restricting the use of reliable energy sources…
Blog
Report: California’s Electricity Price-Boosting Environmental Measures Disproportionately Harm the Poor
A new report published by Next 10 and the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business, “Designing Electricity Rates for an Equitable Energy…
The Post-Journal
Why So Many Subsidies For Electric Vehicles?
If electric vehicles (EVs) are as fantastic as claimed, why do they need so many government handouts? Proponents of EVs are increasingly using the “I Word” —…
Inside Sources
If electric vehicles (EVs) are as fantastic as claimed, why do they need so many government handouts?
Proponents of EVs are increasingly using the “I Word” – inevitability. They say EVs make too much sense for consumers, not to mention the planet,…
Blog
Federal Fleet Again to Become Guinea Pig for Alternative Vehicles
Among the long list of announced climate-related measures, the Biden administration has set a goal of “clean and zero-emission vehicles for Federal, State, local,…
Blog
Study: Electric Vehicles Driven A Lot Less Than Previously Assumed
A recently published study finds that electric vehicle (EV) owners drive them considerably less than previously assumed. This finding, if true, would greatly undercut claims about…
Blog
Electric Vehicles Are as Inevitable as … Cellulosic Biofuels
Americans are increasingly hearing the “I” word when it comes to electric vehicles—inevitability. Proponents insist that they make too much sense for consumers and…
Blog
Biden Administration Initiates Steps to Submit Kigali Amendment to Senate for Ratification Vote
While the Biden administration’s reentry into the Paris Accord received most of the attention, another climate-related international measure also got a jump start after stalling…
Blog
Has the Honeymoon Already Ended Between Biden and Trade Unions over Keystone XL?
It didn’t take long. On his first day in office, President Biden revoked the federal permit granted by Donald Trump for the Keystone XL pipeline,…
Inside Sources
Biden Attack on Keystone Pipeline Bodes Ill For Jobs, Economy
Among the list of things President Joe Biden has reportedly promised to do immediately upon taking office is reversing President Donald Trump’s…
Blog
Trump DOE Finalizes More Flexible Regulation for Residential Furnaces
In one of the Trump Department of Energy’s (DOE) last regulatory actions, the agency on January 15 revised the energy efficiency standards for residential…
Blog
Most Americans Still Buy Large Gasoline-Powered Vehicles, According to Latest EPA Data
There is a deep divide between the vehicles that climate activists and their political allies prefer and those that the public actually wants and buys,…
Blog
Will the Next Labor Secretary Support Job-Killing Climate Measures?
President-elect Biden has selected most of his nominees to head the federal departments, and he has made clear to them that addressing climate change should…
Marketplace
Spending, Relief Bill Phases Out Planet Warming Refrigerants
Marketplace cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on refrigerants. This measure hits two sweet spots: the environment and jobs. A key reason it…
Citizens Journal
Electric Vehicle Shock Treatment
Citizens Journal cites CEI’s report by Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman. Mining and processing ores, and manufacturing batteries, would also require enormous amounts…
News Release
New Law Banning Refrigerant Will Harm Consumers and Benefit Special Interests
WASHINGTON, DC – Congress intends to include ban a chemical commonly used in air-conditioners and refrigerators and extend billions in existing government spending toward unreliable…
Blog
The Bipartisan War on Affordable Air Conditioning
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are currently collaborating on a bill that will make air conditioning more expensive. Hooray for bipartisanship! Both the House and Senate…
News Release
Energy Department Reforms #Neverneeded Regulations on Consumer Washers, Dryers, Showerheads
Today the U.S. Department of Energy issued a set of two new rules that, respectively, allow the sale of faster clothes washers and dryers…
Blog
COVID-19 Vaccine Shows that the World Needs More Refrigeration and Less Anti-Refrigeration Climate Policy
Refrigeration has had a substantial positive impact on public health in the U.S. and other developed nations where it is in widespread use. Increased market…
NewsTalk 1320 WJAS
NewsTalk 1320 WJAS
NewsTalk 1320 WJAS cites CEI senior fellow Ben Lieberman on Electric Vehicles (EVs) and environmental costs. “Ben Lieberman is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise…
News Release
Trump Administration Denies Alaska Pebble Mine Permit, Denying Economic Opportunity to the State and the Nation
The Trump administration, via the Army Corps of Engineers, today denied a permit to the Pebble Mine in Alaska, to the great detriment of economic…
Blog
Is General Motors’ Shift to More Electric Vehicles Good for the Environment?
General Motors recently announced a major push toward electric vehicles (EVs), pledging $27 billion in investment by 2025 and promising to have 30 EV…
Blog
Montreal Protocol Continues Process of Morphing Into A Climate Treaty
The 32nd Meeting of the Parties to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) will be held from…
News Release
New CEI Paper Asks: Would More Electric Vehicles be Good for the Environment?
The environmental benefits of “zero emission” electric vehicles are often touted, but rarely discussed are the many environmental downsides associated with creating and powering EVs.
Study
Would More Electric Vehicles Be Good for the Environment?
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…
Blog
Comments to EPA’s Proposed Aircraft GHG Rule Show Industry Support, Activist Opposition
The comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed first-ever greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for commercial aircraft ended on October 19. There…
Blog
Students Need More Air Conditioning, Not More Climate Policy
There’s a long and growing list of problems activists blame on climate change, including students’ reduced ability to learn due to hotter classroom temperatures. However,…
Comment
CEI Comments to DOE on Proposed Change to Shower Regulations
Blog
Senate Reaches Bipartisan Deal to Raise Air Conditioner Costs
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee just agreed to a measure that would raise the cost of air conditioning…
Blog
California’s Rolling Blackouts Cast Further Doubt on Electric Vehicles’ Future
However, California’s rolling blackouts underscore the difficulties that a massive scaling up of electric vehicles would entail. The problem is that EVs don’t really reduce…
Blog
Department of Energy Proposes More Water and Less Government Intrusion in Showers
The Department of Energy has proposed a rule loosening existing the federal requirements and allowing more water from showers. This is good news for those…
Blog
Can 15 States Be Wrong? Yes, When They Want More Federal Appliance Regulations!
Fifteen states have threatened to sue the Trump administration unless the Department of Energy sets new energy efficiency standards for 25 appliances. Almost every point…
Blog
Donald Trump Jr.’s Opposition to the Pebble Mine Shouldn’t Matter
Well-connected sportsmen, often Republicans, have been known to side with environmental obstructionists on occasion. When they learn that one of their isolated hunting or fishing…
Blog
NEPA Reform Gives More Power to the People, Less to Environmental Lawyers
The Trump administration’s recent changes to the National Environmental Policy Act would reduce the years of red tape and litigation that frequently blocks job-creating energy…
Blog
Environmental Protection Agency Finalizes Reforms to Its Environmental Appeals Board
The Trump administration has placed a priority on streamlining the delays and red tape holding back many private sector projects. The EPA's final rule making…
Blog
EPA Proposes First-Ever Aircraft Greenhouse Gas Limits
Today, the EPA proposed the first-ever limits on greenhouse gas emissions from commercial aircraft engines. Although it is unusual for the Trump administration to push…
News Release
Trump Administration Rule Reforms NEPA, Congress Must Finish the Job
President Trump today announced a final rule reforming the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process of evaluating and granting permits for major new energy infrastructure…
Blog
Final Rule on National Environmental Policy Act an Important Step to Get America Back to Work
Along with its regulatory reforms, the Trump administration has also sought to unleash the American economy by streamlining the federal permitting process for major infrastructure…
Blog
House Select Committee Climate Report A Pre-COVID-19 Time Capsule
On June 30, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released its report. There is little original in the report. Most of its sweeping…
Blog
Air Conditioning Can Help Fight COVID-19—If Federal Policy Allows It To
COVID-19 persists into the time of year when most Americans rely on air conditioning, so many are asking whether cranking up the cold air helps…
Blog
Tax Breaks for Wind and Solar—Bad Energy Policy, Bad Post-Coronavirus Recovery Policy
The House of Representatives’ $1.5 trillion dollar infrastructure package is being sold to the public as a post-coronavirus job creation bill. It now includes the…
Daily Energy Insider
New England Ratepayers Association’s Stance on Full Net Metering Gains Support
Daily Energy Insider quotes CEI Senior Fellows Marlo Lewis and Ben Lieberman regarding the NERA’s stance on retail net metering: NERA in April filed a…
Comment
CEI Comments on NERA Petition Concerning Unlawful Wholesale Sales
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a public policy and analysis organization committed to advancing the principles of free markets and limited government. We are…
Blog
Supreme Court Decision Big Win for Energy—and America
Today the Supreme Court handed down a 7-2 decision allowing the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile project bringing natural gas produced in…
News Release
#NeverNeeded Report: EPA Should Grant Waivers to Renewable Fuel Standard, Congress Should Sunset the Program Entirely
A bipartisan group of governors of five states -- Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming -- have requested a waiver from requirements of the federal…
Products
Suspend and Eventually Eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has faced many unexpected turns since it was created by Congress in 2005 and expanded in 2007, so the impact…