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…
Blog
Trump Executive Order to Expedite Project Approvals
President Trump on June 4 issued an Executive Order intended to expedite the federal approval process for major infrastructure projects. “Economic Recovery from the COVID-19…
Blog
EPA Finalizes Rule Limiting State Abuses of Clean Water Act to Block Fossil Energy Projects
On June 1, the EPA issued a final rule clarifying that the Clean Water Act cannot be used by states to block energy projects based…
Blog
EPA Removes One Hurdle to Alaska’s Pebble Mine, but Others Remain
On May 28, the EPA notified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it will not challenge its ongoing review of the Pebble Mine in…
Blog
IRS Relaxes Requirements for Renewable Energy Tax Credits—Coronavirus Edition
On May 27, the IRS issued a notice expanding the tax relief for renewable energy developers seeking to qualify for tax credits. Ironically, this announcement…
Blog
Wood Heaters—One Cheer for Trump EPA’s Modest Regulatory Reform
The Trump administration’s reforms of past regulatory excesses range from excellent to little better than no change at all. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)…
Blog
Are “Earth-Friendly” New Refrigerants Toxic?
Bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to restrict hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the refrigerants currently used in most air conditioning and refrigeration systems.
Blog
Senate Bill Introduced to Extend Alternative Fuels Tax Credit
Sens. Lamar Alexander and Tom Carper have introduced Securing America’s Clean Fuels Infrastructure Act, extending and increasing the tax credits for alternative transportation fuels. It…
Blog
EPA Sends Proposed Aircraft GHG Rule to White House for Review
On May 1, the EPA sent its first-ever proposed rule on aircraft greenhouse gas emissions to OMB for review. Promulgated pursuant to the Clean Air…
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
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…
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…
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
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…
Blog
The Next Alleged Environmental Threat: Coal Falling off Trains
Proponents of climate change are repurposing older statutes into climate policy tools, even though they were never intended for that purpose. The environmentalists’ goal is…
Blog
Fly the (Greenhouse) Friendly Skies, If You Can Still Afford to under the House COVID-19 Bill
Airports haven’t been this empty since after 9/11, so it is not surprising that airlines would be recipients of tens of billions of assistance in…
Blog
Federal Court Decision Underscores Need for NEPA Reform
The comment period has closed for the Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed updates to the implementing rules for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Many…
Blog
Refrigerants Debate Moves to House
American consumers dodged a bullet when the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act failed to become part of the larger Senate energy package, which has stalled on…
Comment
CEI Comments on Proposed Updated NEPA Procedural Regulations
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) proposed update of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedural regulations.
News Release
CEI Urges Senators To Vote No on Unnecessary and Wasteful Energy Legislation
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) opposes S. 2657, the package of energy bills set for a vote today in the U.S. Senate, and urges senators…
Blog
Washington’s Latest Attack on Air Conditioning
Think air conditioning isn’t expensive enough? Then you’ll love a proposed amendment to the Senate energy bill that restricts the refrigerants used in millions of…
Comment
Questions for the Record
The Honorable John Shimkus (R-IL) Is it true that the replacements for HFCs are more expensive than their counterparts? If so, what impact will this…
Blog
Trump Wants Less Federal Meddling in Home Energy Use, but Some in Congress Want More
Federal energy efficiency standards have a long history of unintended adverse consequences, from more expensive light bulbs with questionable light quality to dishwashers that take…
Blog
Trump Administration Better on Permit Approvals for Energy Projects than for Minerals Projects Like the Pebble Mine
The Trump administration is doing a good job reducing red tape and streamlining the permitting process for energy production and energy infrastructure projects, but on…
Blog
Department of Energy Finalizes Process Rule for Appliance Efficiency Standards
There are a number of problematic Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency standards for home appliances. Perhaps worst of all is the one resulting in dishwashers…
Study
The American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act: 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…
Comment
Testimony of Ben Lieberman Before House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change
Chairman Tonko, Ranking Member Shimkus, and Members of this subcommittee, thank you for this invitation to speak today at this hearing on H.R. 5544, the…
News Release
NEPA Reforms a Big Step toward Correcting Worst Abuses of Environmental Permitting Process
The White House Council on Environmental Quality today released a proposed rule reforming the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).