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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 the…
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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. Among…
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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 new…
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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 a…
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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 rule…
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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 2032…
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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 the…
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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. Our friends,…
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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 to…
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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 in…
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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 5.
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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 Pollution Fee…
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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) 2027-2032…
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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 points…
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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) 2027-2032…
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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 failing…
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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 A-4—OMB’s…
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EPA’s new coal rule: Still unlawful after all these years
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week posted the pre-publication draft of its proposed carbon dioxide (CO2) emission performance standards for fossil-fuel power plants…
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EPA’s almost bare-naked electric car mandate
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week proposed new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for model years (MYs) 2027-2032 passenger cars, light trucks,…
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Texas v. EPA could save the day for cars that go vroom
The Competitive Enterprise Institute this week filed its reply brief for private petitioners in State of Texas et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Skepticism about EPA’s PM2.5 Rule Is Healthy
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed to tighten the annual national ambient air quality standard for fine particulate matter. My colleague Daren Bakst…
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Too Clever by Half – EPA’s De-Facto Electric Vehicle Mandate
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced new, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles. The standards would increase in…
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CEI Advises CEQ to Withdraw Its NEPA Guidance on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change
Last week I submitted comments advising the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to withdraw its proposed guidance on consideration of greenhouse gas (GHG)…
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Less is More – EPA’s Methane Rule and the Social Cost Paradox
CEI this week submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed rule to establish new and more stringent methane emission standards for…
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DOE’s Press Release on Federal Building Energy Standards Is Inaccurate, Misleading, and Unserious
The Department of Energy (DOE) last week released the pre-publication version of a proposed rule to “establish energy performance standards for the construction of…
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Some Climate-Related Items that Recently Caught My Eye
Manhattan Contrarian Francis “Buddy” Menton hit two homers this week. In “Don’t Be So Sure the Climate Extremists Have Won,” Menton offers hopeful words…
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Climategate 2.0: EPA’s New Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases Report
When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week proposed to adopt more aggressive methane emission standards for the oil and gas sector, it also…
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Are Nord Stream Methane Leaks “Catastrophic for Climate”?
Despite acknowledging that the Nord Stream pipelines were likely bombed by saboteurs, the Associated Press yesterday focused on the ruptures as a climate threat…
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Inflation Reduction Act and West Virginia v. EPA: Legislative History Refutes Sen. Carper’s Spin
“And whatever interpretive force one attaches to legislative history, the Court normally gives little weight to statements, such as those of the individual legislators, made after the…
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The Inflation Reduction Act’s Implications for West Virginia v. EPA: A Response to Professor Dan Farber
An environmental reporter last week asked for CEI’s thoughts on University of California, Berkley law professor Dan Farber’s article on the Inflation Reduction…