Litigation
CEI v. NHTSA
Pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 32909, the Clean Air Act § 307(b)(1), 42 U.S.C. § 7607(b)(1), Section 702 of…
Blog
CEI Files New Challenge to the Administration’s Fuel Economy Standards
CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman discusses the issue with Walter Kreucher, one of the petitioners in the case, Walter Kreucher, a retired automotive engineer who…
Blog
Coronavirus Emergency Is No Reason for Delaying Energy Project Approvals
On April 29, five members of Congress sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that nicely summarizes why the energy infrastructure approval and…
Blog
The Economy after COVID-19 Will Be Different from Before, Part One
As governors begin to lift restrictions on economic activity, polling data show that Americans are generally still afraid of the virus and have changed their…
The Washington Examiner
Contact Tracing: Let the Private Sector Lead
As state and local restrictions begin to relax, the essential questions for many people are remarkably similar to what we asked in March. What will…
Comment
CEI Comments on SEC Proposed Rules to Restrict Investor Access to Certain Funds
Washington Examiner
Contact tracing: Let the private sector lead
Blog
Shield Employers from COVID-19 Liabilities Created by Government
Now that government officials and business owners are planning for a “semi-normal” phase of post-quarantine reopening, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s recent “Implementing a National…
Blog
Like the Sun Not Rising in the East?
The Federal Register, the official daily government publication of regulations, proposed rules, and similar items did not go online today. We were awaiting today’s Federal…
The Washington Examiner
How to Reopen the Economy with a Reality-Based Approach
Sweeping public health measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, such as banning large gatherings, travel restrictions, closing all but essential businesses, closing schools, and “social distancing”…
Legal Brief
Petition for Rulemaking to End the Commission’s Backdoor Regulation of 12b-1 Fees
News Release
CEI to Challenge Federal Fuel Economy Rule in Court As Unsafe
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today filed a petition in court alleging the National Highway Safety Administration failed to fully consider the adverse safety impact of…
Legal Brief
CEI Petition for Review SAFE Rule
Pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 32909, the Clean Air Act § 307(b)(1), 42 U.S.C. § 7607(b)(1), Section 702 of…
Blog
SAFE Rule Examined Part 1 Climate Change and the Great Lockdown
It’s been almost a month since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Final Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient…
Blog
Antitrust Investigation of Amazon Won’t Benefit Consumers
Launching another antitrust investigation into Amazon won’t benefit consumers. The U.S. antitrust law standard is consumer harm. To stretch antitrust investigations to include data, privacy,…
News Release
Broad Alliance of Financial Services and Public Interest Groups File Petition for Rulemaking Challenging SEC’s Unlawful Regulation by Enforcement
The need for our government to set forth consistent, predictable rules has never been greater, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is no exception. …
Blog
SEC’s Shuttering of Fund Fees – #NeverNeeded and Never Authorized
Over the past month, CEI and others have pointed to #NeverNeeded regulations that are hindering our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to economic dislocation.
News Release
CEI Welcomes Senior Fellow with Health Care and Legal Expertise
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is pleased to welcome medical and legal expert Joel M. Zinberg, M.D., J.D. as a senior fellow working on health care…
Blog
Fred Singer, RIP
S. Fred Singer, distinguished scientist and leading climate skeptic, died on April 6 in Rockville, Maryland, at age 95. He had a long and varied…
Washington Examiner
How to reopen the economy with a reality-based approach
Blog
The Coronavirus Outbreak Highlights Importance of the Artificial Intelligence Debate
Tracing of individuals and other measures involving artificial intelligence are in the news with respect to managing individuals’ reentry into the economy in the wake…
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing Effort to Expand Durbin Amendment to Credit Cards
Dear President Trump, Majority Leader McConnell, and Speaker Pelosi As leaders of groups representing millions of consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs, we sympathize with businesses struggling…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
New unemployment applications were down to 4.4 million last week. This is still more than an order of magnitude greater than the pre-coronavirus record. With…
Blog
Hurry, See “Planet of the Humans,” Before It’s Banned
Planet of the Humans, the new documentary film from director Jeff Gibbs and executive producer Michael Moore, contains a stunning evisceration of so-called green energy and the people profiting from it.
Blog
Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division Publishes Accomplishments Report
The Department of Justice’s Energy and Natural Resources Division published a report on Earth Day detailing its accomplishments to enforce the nation’s environmental, public lands, and…
Blog
West Virginia AFL-CIO Reacts to State Supreme Court Ruling Upholding Right to Work
Supporting the rights of individual workers has cost a pro-union West Virginia Supreme Court justice the backing of the state’s AFL-CIO. That’s because the judge…
Blog
Trump Defers Tariff Payments for Struggling Businesses: A Good Start, More Needed
President Trump has deferred selected tariff payments for companies experiencing coronavirus-related hardship. It came after more than two weeks of starts, stops, denials, and reversals.
Blog
CEI Submits Comments to DOT on Aviation Consumer Protection Authority Modernization
Today, CEI submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s notice of proposed rulemaking in the matter of Defining Unfair or Deceptive Practices.
Blog
DEREGULATION IN AN EMERGENCY: The President’s Emergency Powers Include Not Just Imposing Regulations on Industry, but also Suspending Regulations
Across the country, governors have suspended harmful regulations on an emergency basis due to the COVID-19 crisis. The improvements that have resulted have got people…
Blog
VIDEO: Cato Experts on Coronavirus and the Constitution
Recently three legal experts from the Cato Institute hosted a fascinating discussion of recent pandemic-related legal enactments, “Coronavirus and the Constitution.” Ilya Shapiro, Trevor Burrus,…
The Orange County Register
Assembly Bill 5’s Harms Can’t Be Exempted Away, It Must Be Repealed
The top two priorities for the coronavirus pandemic are keeping people safe and minimizing economic damage, in that order. California’s Assembly Bill 5 is harmful…
Blog
Retro Review: Vlad Tarko’s Biography of Elinor Ostrom
Elinor Ostrom’s pioneering work on “polycentrism,” the existence of multiple sources of government authority or power within a single political system, is especially relevant during…
Blog
Decades of Internet Freedom Left America Better Suited for the Pandemic
Broadband investment has rebounded since the FCC rolled back public utility-style rules for Internet service providers. The decades-long trend of more significant Internet usage, enabled…
Comment
CEI Comments to OST on ACPA NPRM
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation’s (“OST”) Notice…
Blog
Congress Has Already Introduced Bills to Reform #NeverNeeded Regulations
Policy makers have already waived more than 350 regulations and counting that were slowing the pandemic response and harming economic recovery. But with a 185,000-page…
CNS News
COVID-19 May Be Bad News for Environmentalist Bullies
The economic destruction wrought by the coronavirus pandemic has been severe and global. More than 10 million Americans lost their jobs and applied for unemployment benefits in…
Blog
The Man Who Fed the World, And the Film that Condemned Him for It
The first indication that PBS’s new documentary on agronomist Norman Borlaug will not be overly laudatory is its title. Anti-hunger activist Leon Hesser called his…
News Release
50th Earth Day Anniversary Marks Environmental Progress But Unfounded Claims by Environmentalists
Statement by Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment:…
Blog
West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Right to Work
The Supreme Court of Appeals for West Virginia ruled that if a worker says, “No, thank you, I’d rather not be a union member,” he…
Blog
Modified Libra Cryptocurrency Still an Innovation, but Clear away Regulatory Barriers for More
Libra and other cryptocurrencies could serve functions other than initially imagined. The potential for faster payments from Libra and other cryptocurrencies, at a time when…
Blog
Newsom Doubles Down on AB5
California Governor Gavin Newsom said there was no chance that he would suspend, even temporarily, Assembly Bill 5, the state law that strictly limits contractors…
Reason
Federal Regulations Are Making the Grocery Store Supply Crunch Worse
Reason cites Senior Fellow Gregory Conko on FDA food regulations: “It’s not terribly unreasonable to have these sort of minimal safety rules remain…
Washington Examiner
COVID-19 is Changing Politics in Ways Good and Bad
The Washington Examiner cites CEI’s #NeverNeeded campaign: At the same time, a great many petty regulations are being scrapped. Rules on plastic bags,…
Blog
Market Dynamics Will Force Zoom to Reform Faster and More effectively than Government Regulation
The videoconferencing service Zoom recently ran into some privacy concerns with leaked videos and hacked online meetings. Reaction has been swift and flawed from many…
Blog
CEI Submits Comments to FCC Reinforcing Public Safety Benefits of Internet Freedom
Last year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld virtually all of the FCC's Restoring Internet Freedom Order. This order, issued in 2017, rolled back…
Blog
New CEI Study Endangers EPA’s Endangerment Finding
Just in time for the 50th Earth Day, CEI is publishing an Issue Analysis called “The Scientific Case for Vacating EPA’s Carbon Dioxide Endangerment Finding.”…
Frederick News Post
Counterpoint: Let’s really celebrate the 50th Earth Day with some humble pie
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Please do all you can to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Hopefully Congress will also act on some of the #NeverNeeded regulations that…
Blog
EPA Proposes to Retain Current Standards for Particulate Matter
The EPA proposed to retain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter established in 2012. Environmental groups predictably condemned the proposal. However,…
Blog
Facts, Not Feelings, Should Inform Regulation of the Debt Settlement Industry
As money gets tight during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, policy makers need to ensure that struggling households have multiple options to manage their debts…
News Release
CEI Report: EPA Using Flawed Models as Basis for Regulating Carbon Dioxide
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today released a new report demonstrating that the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding, which allows the agency to regulate carbon dioxide…
Study
The Scientific Case for Vacating the EPA’s Carbon Dioxide Endangerment Finding
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2009 “Endangerment Finding” from carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases grants the agency a legal mandate that can…
Blog
California’s #NeverNeeded AB5 Is Harming the Coronavirus Response
California’s AB5 law was already backfiring before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It has cost thousands of jobs—many of which are home-based. During a time of…
News Release
CEI Praises FCC Decision to Open Up Spectrum for Business Use
In an effort to make efficient and effective use of the nation’s spectrum resources, today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it will move forward…
Blog
VIDEO: Road Map to Reopening
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted a fascinating video conference this week entitled “Big Picture: Road Map to Reopening,” with the Chamber’s Suzanne Clark and…
Blog
Apple and Google Demonstrate Big Tech Done Right Can Make Big Government Obsolete
Many see the purpose of government as solving problems that otherwise wouldn’t be efficiently addressed in its absence. Yet, despite the steady growth of government,…
Blog
Businesses Critical of Costly Climate Bill Finally Get to Weigh In
The American Manufacturing and Innovation (AIM) Act would limit the production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the class of chemicals used as refrigerants in most air conditioning…
Forbes
How The White House “Guidance For Regulation of Artificial Intelligence” Invites Overregulation
Excessive top-down federal funding and governance of scientific and technology research will be increasingly incompatible with a future of lightly regulated science and technology specifically, and with…
News Release
Libra Cryptocurrency Progress May Aid COVID-19 Economic Recovery
The Libra Association today announced progress made on modifying its Facebook-developed cryptocurrency and payment system to meet regulatory concerns.
Letters
Open Letter to Blackrock CEO Larry Fink
Dear Mr. Fink, As the nation stands at the edge of an economic precipice and stares into it bleakly, you and your firm, the largest…
Forbes
How The White House “Guidance For Regulation Of Artificial Intelligence” Invites Overregulation
Excessive top-down federal funding and governance of scientific and technology research will be increasingly incompatible with a future of lightly regulated science…
Blog
On Balance, We’re All Better Off With Big Tech and Big Telecom During a Crisis
Thanks to the novel Coronavirus, the U.S. economy has come to an unprecedented halt and the country’s death toll stands at more than 20,000. Amid…
Blog
Memo to BlackRock: Drop Activist Agenda, Focus on Recovery
Should large institutional investors find and support profitable firms or adopt the tactics of left-wing pressure groups to force companies into adopting a political agenda?…
News Release
CEI Appeals NASA’s Non-responsive Rejection of Request for Correction of Flawed 97 Percent Claim
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today filed an appeal of NASA’s non-responsive adjudication of a Request for Correction (RFC) under the Information Quality Act. In…
Blog
Medical Supply Sterilization Plant Employee Corrects Chicago Tribune’s Misleading Coverage
An April 13 letter to the editor in the Chicago Tribune addresses the paper’s misleading and alarmist narrative about the use of ethylene oxide (EtO).
Legal Brief
Re: Request for Reconsideration: Appeal of NASA’s IQA Response of March 11, 2020
News Release
Trump EPA Plans to Retain Current Air Quality Standards in Science-Driven Decision
The Environmental Protection Agency administrator today proposed a rule to retain current national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particulate…
Blog
How to Spot a #NeverNeeded Regulation
Not every regulation on the books is directly harming the COVID-19 response. There are a lot of other regulations that need reform, but the #NeverNeeded…
Inside Sources
Post-Virus Economics – Working Toward a Small Business Recovery
When the stay-at-home orders are lifted, we’ll be in a race to get millions of Americans back to work. Large companies will be in a…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
When Congress convenes next week, it will likely begin work on a Phase 4 stimulus bill. CEI analysts have made the case that addressing #NeverNeeded…
Blog
Robots Are Here to Make Your Job Safer and Cleaner
Positive stories about win-win results from the march of automation are everywhere in our economy, but they don’t get told and repeated enough. The workers…
Inside Sources
Post-Virus Economics — Working Toward a Small Business Recovery
When the stay-at-home orders are lifted, we’ll be in a race to get millions of Americans back to work. Large companies will be in…
Blog
EPA Takes Step in Support of Coal-Refuse-to-Energy
Green groups oppose efforts to deal with the coal refuse problem that plagues many coal mining communities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The EPA is…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on Taiwan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Republic of China
Dear Mr. President: We are writing to encourage you to initiate negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Republic of China (Taiwan). Such…
Real Clear Markets
An Effective Pandemic Response Would Be Deregulation
During a pandemic, regulations should not get between sick people and health care, or between hungry people and food. This also applies in normal times.
Blog
How SEC Accounting Regulations Hindered National Stockpile—and Still May Be Doing So
In a new report, CEI experts outline #NeverNeeded regulations that are frustrating responses to the pandemic and its aftermath. Among those is an obscure Securities…
Blog
Deregulation Is an Effective Pandemic Defense
In a new op-ed in RealClearMarkets, Iain Murray and Ryan Young outline the major points of CEI’s just-released #NeverNeeded paper, which identifies regulations harmful to…
Real Clear Markets
How To Make The Phase 4 Coronavirus Response All About Regulatory Reform (Not Just Spending)
When it comes to spending money we don’ t have and calling it rescue, the nation has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.
Comment
Prepared Statement of Dr. Benjamin Zycher and Dr. Patrick J. Michaels on S. 2754, “American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2019”
National Review
The Test’s the Thing
The White House is now balancing the risk to public health and the risk to economic welfare posed by the coronavirus crisis. Yet a solution could…
The Washington Examiner
List: 30 Regulations that Stymied Trump’s Virus Response
The Washington Examiner cites CEI’s latest report on #NeverNeeded regulations: “Many regulations have proven to hinder or delay appropriate policy responses. Other regulations…
Blog
Don’t Combine COVID-19 Treatments of Government Spending and Internet
Government spending is ramping up in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. A significant chunk of the economy has shifted to telecommuting. There are now…
News Release
Report: Repeal #NeverNeeded Regulations to Help COVID-19 Response
COVID-19 relief bills have so far focused on keeping businesses and households afloat during the pandemic closures and quarantines, but the federal government should continue…
Comment
Comments of the Competitive Enterprise Institute on S. 2754, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2019 Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works April 6, 2020
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a public policy and analysis organization committing to advancing the principles of free markets and limited government. We have raised…
Blog
Retro Review: The Year Civilization Collapsed
This review of Eric H. Cline’s 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, was originally published at Inertia Wins. Despite covering events in the ancient past,…
PJ Media
After $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus, America Must Get Its Fiscal House Back in Order
PJ Media cites CEI on #neverneeded regulations: The federal bureaucracy also needs to be simplified. Businesses may be willing to pay more in…
The Heartland Institute
President Trump Proposes Reducing and Refocusing Environment And Energy Spending
The Heartland Institute cites Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on ARPA-E: ARPA-E is unnecessary because the private sector already has the incentives and resources…
Blog
Retro Reviews: An Introduction
Political news and analysis always suffers from a recency bias—we tend to assume that the latest analysis and reportage is superior to what was posted…
Study
How Repeal of #NeverNeeded Regulations Can Help Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis
A number of factors are combining to stress the American economy in the spring of 2020—the global and domestic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Quarantine and stay-at-home orders will likely last through the end of April in many places. In more heartening news, governments are rolling back numerous #NeverNeeded…
Blog
Trump Administration Finalizes New Vehicle Fuel Economy Rule
The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency on March 31 announced their SAFE Vehicles Rule.The rule plus the revocation of the California waiver…
Blog
EPA Inspector General Report Could Exacerbate Medical Supply Shortages
As hospitals struggle to access sterile medical supplies, the EPA Inspector General released a report that could make things worse. It alleges that EPA officials…
Blog
FDA Four-Month Delay Not Enough to Save E-Cigarette Industry
To fight the coronavirus, many states have pressed pause on certain rules and regulations. Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed an order lifting the state ban…
News Release
701k Jobs Lost in March 2020: Statement by Iain Murray
In response to today's abysmal jobs report tallied by the federal government – 701,000 jobs lost in March as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
MarketWatch
Trump’s Mileage-Standard Rollback Will Cost Consumers and the Climate, Say Analysts
MarketWatch cites Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on CAFE standards: Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Marlo Lewis has commented that when Congress created the CAFE program…
Inside Sources
CDC Priorities Left Government Unprepared for COVID-19
It was always a matter of when — not if — a new viral pandemic would make it to America.
Politico
Infrastructure Response to Coronavirus Full Steam Ahead
Politico cites Senior Fellow Marc Scribner on the prospect of a transportation infrastructure stimulus package: But the concept is already facing opposition from the right. “This…
The Washington Times
Trump Administration Officially Rolls Back Obama’s Fuel Efficiency Rules
The Washington Times cites General Counsel Sam Kazman on CAFE standards: The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank that has pushed for…
Inside Sources
Bogus Lawsuits Continue to Haunt American Businesses
Inside Sources cites CEI’s joint coalition letter on the midnight litigation campaign: As the Obama administration began its midnight litigation campaign, a coalition…
Blog
Pipeline-Starved New York City Avoids Natural Gas Shortages this Winter, but May Face Problems in the Future
New York City made it through another winter without any serious natural gas shortages, but it may not be so lucky next year. National Grid…