Blog
Union Gets Nasty over Natural Gas Pipeline Rejection
Friction between the trade unions that build energy infrastructure and the politicians who routinely block these projects has been growing for the last decade—especially as…
Blog
EPA Streamlines Infrastructure Approval Process under Clean Water Act
Making good on its promise in Executive Order 13868 to combat the abuse of section 401 of the Clean Water Act by states seeking to block…
Daily Caller
Trump May Adopt an Obama-Era Climate Policy
Blog
Study Confirms China Cheating on United Nations Environmental Agreement
A study published in the journal Nature provides further confirmation of illegal production of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) from China.
Blog
California Leads Nation in Gas Prices, Climate Policies a Growing Contributor
The large gasoline price disparity between California and the rest of the country has jumped to nearly $1.20 per gallon. High fuel taxes and stringent clean…
Blog
ConEd Expanding Existing Pipeline Capacity Amid Ban on New Construction
We have previously reported on Consolidated Edison’s recent restrictions on new natural gas hookups in the greater New York metropolitan area as a consequence of…
Fox News
Ben Lieberman: There’s a new addition to the list of enemies of the planet — buildings (yes, buildings!)
Environmentalists and their friends in Congress dislike an ever-expanding list of materials and industries American families rely on, from fossil fuels to vehicles to logging,…
Blog
Another Day, Another Blocked Pipeline into New York
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on May 15th rejected a natural gas pipeline that would have brought supplies into the state via New York…
Daily Caller
LIEBERMAN: Trump May Adopt An Obama-Era Climate Policy
Believe it or not, the Trump administration is seriously considering entering into a global environmental treaty that was a key part of the Obama climate…
Blog
Can Trump Save Your Air Conditioner from the Deep State?
It happens every spring—on the first hot day, homeowners switch on their air conditioners that have sat idle since September, cross their fingers, and pray…
Blog
Congressional Democratic Leaders Meet with President on Infrastructure Bill
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other congressional Democrats met with President Trump on April 30 to discuss an infrastructure package.
Blog
Administration Takes on Anti-Infrastructure Misuse of Clean Water Act
President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order on April 10th that is intended to limit the misuse of the Clean Water Act of 1972…
Blog
On Climate Policy, ‘Low-Hanging Fruit’ May Not Be So Tasty
On Wednesday, April 10, the House Energy Subcommittee will hold a hearing called Investing in America's Energy Infrastructure: Improving Energy Efficiency and Creating a Diverse…
Blog
Despite Green New Deal Complaints, House Democrats Rush Vote on New Climate Bill
On Thursday April 4th, the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which was introduced only the week…
Blog
Response to Conservative Supporter of Kigali Amendment
The Kigali Amendment is a United Nations environmental measure proposed by the Obama administration, and that ought to be reason enough for conservatives to be…
Blog
Trump Administration Trying to Please Everyone on Renewable Fuel Standard
In trying to please both the supporters and the critics of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the Trump administration may end up pleasing neither. …
Blog
Interior States Take on Coastal States over Climate-Related Project Approvals
When the state of Washington rejected a proposed new coal export facility in 2017, it probably expected the usual appeals from the project’s developers. But it…
Blog
Washington Post’s Climate Alarmism Reaches the Sports Page
The news and opinion pages of the Washington Post have for years been filled with climate alarmism, but now it is spreading to the sports…
Blog
Maryland Considers Another Anti-Gas Pipeline Measure
The abundant natural gas produced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia could do a lot of good for East Coast states—reducing electric bills, improving reliability, and…
The Washington Examiner
The Inefficiency of Efficiency: Appliance Standards Often Cost More Than They Save
It is hard to find anything in Washington more inefficient than an efficiency standard for home appliances. Each standard can require more than 30 bureaucratic…
Blog
Three Reasons Kigali Amendment Favors China over America
Beginning in the 1970s, many policymakers became concerned that the refrigerants used in most air conditioners and refrigerators were leaking into the air and depleting the…
Blog
House Democrats Take on Department of Energy over Appliance Efficiency Standards
The Department of Energy (DOE) has been regulating the energy efficiency of home appliances since 1987, ostensibly for the benefit of consumers, but the Obama-era…
Blog
EPA Finally Initiates Air Quality Assessment of Renewable Fuel Standard
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it is taking comment on the air quality impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and will complete a study…
Blog
More New England Natural Gas Pipelines Needed, But Unlikely
New England continues to struggle with barely-adequate electric reliability, especially during the region’s winter cold spells. This is due in large part to the retirements of…
Blog
Appalachian Trail Should Not Block New Energy Development
The Department of Justice is pushing back against a federal court decision that could jeopardize the future availability and affordability of natural gas across America’s…
Blog
EPA’s Wheeler Responds to Renewable Fuel Standard Questions
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held its confirmation hearing for acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler on January 16th. The Renewable Fuel…
Blog
Agenda for the 116th Congress: Energy and Environment
Wealthier is healthier—and environmentally cleaner as well. Despite the fact that the most prosperous nations are also the cleanest, and that prosperity is best achieved…
Blog
EPA Takes on Costly, Unnecessary Wood Heater Regulations
The Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency cranked out so many bad major rules that it was hard to pay attention to all the also-bad, but relatively…
Blog
Infrastructure Bill Should Attack Climate Red Tape, Not Increase It
Enacting legislation will be more difficult in next year’s divided Congress, but an infrastructure bill is something that could get done. Democrats and Republicans may be…
Blog
Draft Legislation Proposes Transition from Renewable Fuel Standard to High-Octane Fuel
In a sweeping effort to change the way Washington regulates both fuels and vehicles, Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) and Bill Flores (R-TX) of the House…
Blog
Air Conditioning—Treating a Public Health Benefit As a Threat
A study by the International Energy Agency predicts that billions more people around the world will own an air conditioner by 2050. This is great…
Blog
CEI Challenges Federal Rejection of Alaska’s Pebble Mine
Most job-creating projects don’t require government subsidies―the only thing private sector builders need is less federal red tape getting in their way. A good case…
News Release
CEI Asks EPA to Withdraw “Premature and Speculative” Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, Proposed Determination
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a free market public policy group, today filed a petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to either correct or…
Blog
The Montreal Protocol—Did it Really Make a Difference?
An executive summary of the latest scientific compendium on ozone depletion, the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2018 is now out. The report was released in…
Blog
U.S. Officials Wary of United Nations Ozone Treaty Negotiations in Ecuador
The 30th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) is being held in Quito…
Blog
Infrastructure in Divided Congress Must Include Regulatory, Permitting Reforms
Even before the results were in, the election-night talking heads were speculating on what, if anything, congressional Democrats and Republicans can agree on and get…
Blog
Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Prevent Damage from Renewable Fuel Standard
EarthJustice, the National Wildlife Federation, and other environmental pressure groups have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to better police the land use requirements in…
Blog
China Caught Cheating on Montreal Protocol Ahead of Major Meeting
A recent study has found that emissions of carbon tetrachloride from East Asia are on the rise, even though production of this chemical has…
Blog
New York State Latest to Sue Over Climate Change
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood launched a lawsuit on October 24th against ExxonMobil Corporation over the company’s treatment of climate change-related risks and costs. The…
Citation
CEI: Reported Trump Administration Plan to Boost E-15 Would Be a Step Backwards
According to reports, the Trump Administration is set to announce a new policy intended to boost use of E-15, an ethanol-blended gasoline.
Blog
Bricks and Wood Heaters Also Need Relief from Obama-era Overreach
Several of the Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency’s most expensive and far-reaching Clean Air Act regulations are back in the news now that the Trump administration is…
Washington Examiner
Competitive Enterprise Institute Aims To Debunk Kigali Climate Deal
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on Kigali Ammendment. The free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute launched a counter-strike Tuesday morning against business…
Environment Guru
CEI Report Debunks Myths Advanced By Special Interest Supporters Of Kigali Amendment
Environment Guru cited CEI’s Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on Kigali Amendment. Special interests supporting the Kigali Amendment, which would ban refrigerants widely-used by…
News Release
CEI Report Debunks Myths Advanced by Special Interest Supporters of Kigali Amendment
Special interests supporting the Kigali Amendment, which would ban refrigerants widely used by consumers with air conditioning and businesses that rely on air conditioning and…
Study
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol: Myth vs. Fact
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…
Blog
Three States Join California in Raising Air Conditioning, Refrigeration Costs
Maryland, New York, and Connecticut are following California’s lead in proposing restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the class of refrigerants widely used…
Blog
Reform Federal Process for Environmental Permits
The Trump administration has initiated several steps to streamline the federal permitting process for major projects, including resource extraction and infrastructure. In particular, it has focused…
Comment
CEI Comments to the Council on Environmental Quality
These comments are respectfully submitted on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). CEI is a non-profit public policy research organization dedicated to advancing individual…
Blog
Department of Energy Proposes ending Obama-era Rules on Incandescent Light Bulbs
Energy and Environment News reported Wednesday that the Trump Department of Energy (DOE) is pushing back against two last-minute Obama regulations that would expand…
Morning Consult
Washington’s War on Air Conditioning
Washington, D.C., is a heavily air-conditioned city. Summers here are hot and very humid, and each workday, an army of politicians and bureaucrats makes the…
Blog
Twenty-Two Free Market and Conservative Groups Tell Trump To Ditch the Kigali Amendment
The U.N. Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances would restrict many of the cheapest and most effective refrigerants now used in home…
Blog
Environmental Protection Agency to Streamline Permits for Major Projects
In a move that furthers the Trump administration’s goal of reducing unnecessary and duplicative red tape while also helping refocus his agency’s efforts on its…
Blog
Last Chance for the 115th: Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard
It has now been more than decade since the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was last revised, and the program is not getting any better with…
Blog
Trump Nominates Mary Neumayr and Dan Simmons
The White House has announced that President Donald J. Trump will nominate two individuals for positions of considerable importance to energy and environmental issues.
Blog
Full Court Press on Kigali Amendment Begins
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which would restrict production of many commonly-used refrigerants on the grounds that they contribute to global warming,…
Blog
Hydroelectric Hearing Highlights Costs of Federal Permitting Delays
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on energy held a hearing on June 7th on energy infrastructure licensing reform. Although Improving the Hydropower…
Comment
Ben Lieberman Before the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs House Committee
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of this subcommittee, and thank you for inviting me to testify. My name is Ben Lieberman and I am…
Comment
Comments Regarding the DoE’s Fiscal Year 2004 Priorities for Appliance Standards
Full Document Available in PDF Since its enactment in 1987, the…
Comment
Complaint for Declarative Relief versus John Marburger
Full Document Available in PDF This is an action seeking to apply the Federal Data Quality…
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief in NRDC vs Spencer Abraham
Full Document Avalible in PDF Petitioners’ challenge is primarily a procedural one, asserting that DOE cannot issue a rule for SEER 12…
Legal Brief
Joint Brief of Petitioners and Petitioner-Intervenors in Nebraska vs EPA
Comment
Comments Regarding the Constitutionality of FDA Treatment of Product Information
This request for comments represents a welcome departure from FDA’s prior treatment of First Amendment concerns in the context of product advertising, labeling, and promotions.
Comment
Comments on the ATF Proposed Rule Regarding Health Claims in Labeling Alcohol Beverages
ATF’s notice of proposed rulemaking seeks to prohibit what it deems misleading statements about the health benefits of alcohol consumption from appearing on alcoholic beverage…
Comment
Comments on the EPA Proposed Response to Remand Regarding National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone
In 1999, the United States Court of Appeals struck down the new ozone NAAQS. Among other things, the Court faulted the agency for failing to…
Comment
Comments on the EPA Proposed Response to Remand Regarding National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone
In 1999, the United States Court of Appeals struck down the new ozone NAAQS. Among other things, the Court faulted the agency for failing to…
Legal Brief
Oral Argument in CEI and CA vs. Paul O Neill and Bradley Buckles
Study
End Federal Support for Renewable Energy
Morning Consult
No Comfort and Joy Over Holiday Gas Prices
It wasn’t a very merry Christmas for America’s motorists, as pump prices averaged $3 per gallon nationwide for the first time since 2008. President Obama’s…
Morning Consult
Manufacturing Unemployment
For most Americans, persistently high unemployment is a new development — but employment in the manufacturing sector has been taking a beating for decades. Painful…
Morning Consult
The Regulation / Prosperity Trade-Off
Morning Consult
The Jobs O Hates
For all his talk of job creation, President Obama has targeted many occupations for extinction. Using un-elected bureaucrats to implement a host of job-killing measures,…
Morning Consult
Unleashing U.S. Energy Resources Could Spark Economic Recovery
Among the many suggestions for deficit reduction in the recently released Fiscal Commission report is a 15 cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. This…
The New American
Groups Continue to Urge for Expiration of Ethanol Subsidies
Study
The Clean Air Act and High Gasoline Prices
Study
Clean Air Act Overview
Full Document Available in PDF Enacted in 1970, the Clean Air Act (CAA) is the…
Washington Times
The Ecological Monster Who Said… Peep
Call it the Election Day dog that didn’t bark – or, possibly, the oiled bird that didn’t fly. The BP oil spill had virtually no…
Blog
Fiscal Commission Should Support Increased Energy Production, Not Increased Energy Taxes
Among the many suggestions in the Fiscal Commission’s draft report is a 15 cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. No doubt, this…
Washington Times
Air Board’s Arrogance Damaging
Washington Times
Job Flight Not Air Board’s Problem
Blog
An Election-Night Win For Domestic Energy Jobs
Draw up a map of the U.S. and shade in the regions that rely on energy jobs — places like Appalachia, the Rockies, western Gulf…
Washington Times
Push Continues to let Ethanol Subsidies Expire Despite oil Subsidy Mountain
Washington Times
Should Ethanol Subsidies Be Gone (With the Wind)?
Study
Is Wind the Next Ethanol?
One “Renewable” Energy Source Follows another’s History of Failure…
Washington Times
Ben Lieberman on consumer costs of regulations
CEI Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy Ben Lieberman explains how new environmental regulations for household appliances will end up costing consumers more money. These increased…
Blog
Moratorium Lifted, But Drilling Still Blocked
With much fanfare, the Obama administration has lifted its moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. But don’t expect much actual drilling any…
Washington Times
Browse More Videos Ben Lieberman on Government Regulations
Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy Ben Lieberman discusses the extent of federal regulations in our daily lives.
Washington Times
How Obama is Invading Your Home
The Obama administration isn’t satisfied giving the American public vast things we don’t want — from stimulus packages to bailouts to ObamaCare: It’s a…
Washington Times
The “Green” Agenda, the Cost of Energy, and the Price of Freedom
Blog
Washington’s New War on the West
The economic track record of the current administration and Congress is not a good one. Unemployment remains stubbornly high at nearly 10 percent, and many…
Washington Times
The Green Agenda
Blog
The Failed Stimulus Package Reveals What Economy Really Needs
A failure can make for a valuable learning experience, and the stimulus package is no exception. Clearly the stimulus has not worked, and from…
Washington Times
An Annoying Regulation for Every Room in the House
Washington Times
Obama’s Energy Regulations on Household Appliances Sparks Cost Debate
Blog
An Annoying Regulation for Every Room in the House
The Obama administration isn’t satisfied giving the American people several big things we don’t want — the stimulus package, expanded bailouts, Obamacare — but it…
Blog
Kiss Your Ash Goodbye — Regulating Coal Combustion Byproducts As Hazardous Is An Unnecessary Job Killer
The Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to regulate carbon dioxide as an air pollutant is currently garnering most of the attention from the agency’s critics, but…
Blog
Federal Regulators Making Laundry More Costly And More Dingy
In a classic case of a government solution in search of a problem, Washington has for years set energy efficiency standards for home appliances. By…
Washington Times
Post-Spill, it’s Still ‘Drill, Baby, Drill!’
Public support for tapping America’s oil reserves got a tough test over the last few months with the Deepwater Horizon spill, but the verdict is…
Products
A Case of Wine for the Supreme Court
Full Document Available in PDF On December 7, the United…
Op-Eds
America Is Not Facing an Unavoidable Energy Shortage
The year 2004 will be remembered as a year of high prices for gasoline and natural gas, and Americans are understandably worried about…
Op-Eds
Ultraviolet-B Radiation Fears Overblown
By relying too heavily on a few vocal alarmists, the article “Living under depleted skies” (World, Dec. 20) gave a very misleading impression…