In liberal developed countries, the relationship between the natural world and society is regulated by statutory law, regulatory edicts, and government agencies that set standards for behavior, investigate potential violations, and sanction transgressions. However, statutory law is divorced from nature and focuses on an ever-expanding rulebook that prescribes how we interact with the natural world. Established some 55 years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for more than half of all regulatory costs imposed by our federal government.

In remarks originally delivered to the Pharos Foundation at the University of Oxford in the spring of 2025, CEI President Kent Lassman proposed a localized, bottom-up approach to environmental challenges. The alternative must center on human activity within the natural world. Solutions will not come from this or that regulatory regime, but from the disciplined application of human ingenuity – from markets and technology. Join CEI for a lunch discussion with Kent Lassman on how common law and free market environmentalism can reshape the future of environmental policy. 

When: ​​​​​​12:30 – 2:00 pm

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Where: Union League Club

38 East 37th Street, New York, NY 10016

This is a private event. Questions? Email [email protected]

Kent Lassman is president and CEO of the feisty and principled Competitive Enterprise Institute. Reforming broken regulatory institutions and removing the unnecessary burdens they produce has taken him across America, to more than a dozen countries, and deep into the dysfunction of the federal government. An optimist by nature, he is a Virginian by choice and is outdoors at every opportunity.

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