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RCP8.5: Dead and buried
On April 29, American Enterprise Institute scholar and Substack author Roger Pielke, Jr. announced that RCP8.5, the high-end emission scenario that dominated…
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RCP8.5: Climate establishment officially retires extreme scenario (Part II)
Part I can be found here. Victim of its own success? Perhaps to save face or even boast of being right…
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RCP8.5: Climate establishment officially retires extreme scenario (Part I)
Thanks to the scholarship, courage, and perseverance of a handful of independent researchers, notably Roger Pielke, Jr., Justin Ritchie, and Hadi…
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DOJ files suit to end California’s unlawful climate and auto power grab
The Trump administration’s rollback of Obama and Biden administration climate policies keeps rolling along. The latest initiative is a lawsuit filed by the…
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NHTSA’s proposed fuel economy reset: Putting consumers in the driver’s seat
On Wednesday, I submitted comments in support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) proposed Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule…
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Trump withdraws from UN Framework Convention; ends illusion we’ll always have Paris
President Trump is withdrawing the United States from 66 intergovernmental organizations he has determined are “contrary to the interests of the United States.” This…
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Politico’s failed critique of DOE’s climate science report – who’s misleading on hurricanes?
In September, Politico published an article titled “How a major DOE report hides the whole truth about climate change.” In October, I rebutted…
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The Endangerment Finding’s disqualifying systemic biases, part 2
The previous post in this series documented the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding’s reliance on overheated models and inflated emission scenarios to…
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The Endangerment Finding’s disqualifying systemic biases, part 1
On August 1, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to repeal its December 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding. In the Endangerment…
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Power plant greenhouse gas emissions don’t contribute significantly to ‘dangerous air pollution’
CEI recently submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Proposed Rule to repeal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for fossil fuel…
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Trump, Congress overturn California’s gas-car ban
President Trump today signed three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to overturn Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers greenlighting California’s…
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Senate pulls plug on California’s gas car ban
The US Senate on Thursday voted 51-46 for H.J. Res.88, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to repeal the Environmental…
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CEI sends letter to Senate regarding California waiver CRA resolutions
The US Senate has a unique opportunity to overturn what may well be the most egregious case of unlawful bureaucratic overreach of the past…
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We’re out of the Paris Agreement—again! How Trump can make it stick
On Inauguration Day (January 20, 2025), President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, the global climate treaty negotiated by…
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Cracks in the regulatory freezeout
On the first afternoon of his second term, President Donald Trump signed 46 executive orders. They included welcome tools for restraining the administrative state.
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EPA’s new powerplant rule is the Clean Power Plan on steroids
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday announced its final rule establishing carbon dioxide (CO2) emission performance standards for existing coal powerplants and…
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R.J. Smith – In Memoriam
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has lost a treasured friend and mentor, Robert J. Smith. All my thoughts about R.J. run to superlatives. He was…
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Questions about EPA’s electric vehicle rule—some answered, some not
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week posted the pre-Federal Register version of its de facto electric vehicle (EV) sales mandate rule. The…
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EPA’s latest unlawful assault on vehicle affordability and choice
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced final emission standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through…
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Fueling discontent: Minnesota’s costly push for a low carbon fuel standard
Lawmakers in Minnesota are considering a Clean Transportation Standard (CTS) that would impose increasingly stringent carbon-intensity reduction targets on all motor fuels used in…
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40th Anniversary Commemorative: How CEI killed credit for early action
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) turned 40 this month. I’m proud to have been a CEI scholar for more than a quarter century.
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Will EPA empower California to ban gasoline-powered cars?
Did Congress authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to outlaw the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles? Did it authorize the EPA…
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Proof of the PROVE IT Act’s carbon tax agenda
A recent post explains how S. 1863, the PROVE IT Act, could empower narrow partisan majorities to enact carbon tariffs and taxes…
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Vote on Capito amendment unmasks PROVE IT as carbon tax enabler
Last week, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee approved the PROVE IT Act (S. 1863) by a vote of 14 to…
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Experts weigh in: Sen. Cassidy’s carbon tariff bill would mean more taxes
A carbon tax is both bad policy and dumb politics. Yet Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has just introduced legislation, the Foreign…
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Cease and desist, CEI urges National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
I submitted comments on behalf of CEI to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Monday on its proposed model year (MY)…
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What I told Congress about the unlawful plan to ‘align’ NEPA with Biden Climate Targets
I testified today at the House Natural Resources Oversight Subcommittee hearing on “Examining Systemic Government Overreach at CEQ.” My testimony developed three main…
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What I told the EPA about its illegal de facto electric vehicle mandates
Yesterday I submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for model years (MYs)…
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Another sustainable energy company is failing to sustain itself
CNBC’s “Sustainable Future” page reports today that “Siemens Energy shares plunge more than 37% as wind turbine worries deepen.” A “sustainable energy” company…
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Elephant in the elevator: How government manipulates the social cost of carbon to justify regulations
Four CEI colleagues and I each submitted comments this month on the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed update of Circular…