There is also the constant conflating of climate policy with climate science in order to make subjective and ideological policy choices seem as if the science dictates those choices. But science informs policy, it does not provide objective answers to policy questions. However, those who disagree with the climate policy choices favored by extremists are labeled with offensive terms like deniers.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute rejects climate policies that assume Americans and humans all over the world must sacrifice their quality of living, be guilted into radical life changes, and give up on improving their standard of living in the name of fighting climate change. Even if the United States no longer existed, there would be little to no meaningful impact on global temperatures. Therefore, the myriad of extreme policies are all costs and no gain.
Using the force of government to impose policies that severely hurt humans today, especially the poor, without any meaningful benefits is not just foolish but indefensible. And when such policies are advanced, the proponents of those policies should always be expected to explain how their policy choices would meaningfully affect global temperatures. When they are unable to provide answers, which will be the case, their policy choices should be quickly dismissed.
The best way to deal with any genuine climate concerns is to remove government obstacles that hinder innovation, reduce wealth, and undermine prosperity and opportunity. Economic liberty benefits Americans generally, and at the same time, it is also the world’s best climate policy. After all, the wealthiest and most prosperous nations are far more likely to develop solutions to such problems than other nations.
Featured Posts
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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 Department…
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EPA repeals another costly rule targeting affordable and reliable coal
Though not nearly as far-reaching as the recently announced end to the Endangerment Finding, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) February 20 final rule repealing…
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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 is…
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Op-Eds
The Nice Treaty: Not So Nice For The U.S.
Yes means yes and no means maybe – at least that’ so among Europe’s elite. Which is ironic, because the Continental bien pensants would shudder…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 22
Politics COP-8 Declaration under Fire A draft “Delhi Declaration on Climate Change,” which is to be adopted at the…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 21
Politics Energy Bill Gets New Life As the Congress neared adjournment this week, the energy bill appeared…
Study
Get Your Money For Nothing And Your Credits For Free
Full Document Available in PDF…
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The U.S. Should Unsign Kyoto
Perhaps U.S. President George W. Bush believes it when he says the United States is free of the Kyoto climate change treaty. But if he…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 20
Politics European Green Group Wants Trade Sanctions on U.S. Products Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE-E), an environmental pressure…
Newsletter
MIT Climatologist Richard S. Lindzen To Address Cooler Heads Coalition
The Cooler Heads Coalition Presents On The Meaning of Global Warming ClaimsA Congressional and Media Briefing By Dr. Richard…
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Powell for the Poor
The U.S. State Department is often the bane of conservatives' existence, mostly for its institutional embrace of the multilateral, let's-not-offend-anyone (particularly the Europeans), kumbaya-ism.
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 19
Politics Energy Bill Negotiations Near Climax The House-Senate conference committee on the energy bill is scheduled to start taking up the…
Op-Eds
Liberals Will Wriggle Out Of Kyoto
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien intends to ratify the Kyoto climate change accord this autumn, but is still haggling over its terms — which puts…
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Green with Greed
“Green” groups do quite well for themselves courtesy of business and foundations derived from corporate wealth (Pew, Ford, Rockefeller, Heinz, MacArthur). Still, the green…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 18
Politics World Summit Nearly Global Warming-Free There was little talk about global warming at the World Summit on Sustainable…
Op-Eds
‘A Totalitarian Effort’
Stanley Kubrick may be gone, but his visions of a hellish future corrupted by the abuses of corporatist government are alive and well. Nowhere are…
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Russian Roulette
Russia played the first Kyoto card at this “World Summit on Sustainable Development,” and it just might be an Ace. A member of the Russian…
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August/September 2002 Edition of CEI Update
Full Document Available in PDF Articles in this edition: “Nothing But Hot…
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Careful What You Wish For
As over 100 judges from around the world at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) call for more lawyers to file more environmental lawsuits,…
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Cirque De Solar Power
Oh dear. It’s only Day 3 of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and already I’m pleading with Amazon to deliver “Out of…
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Bush’s Kyoto Secret
The “World Summit on Sustainable Development” got underway today amid several key questions. How would anti-globalization – and, possibly, worse — forces attempt to disrupt…
Op-Eds
Wealth Of Delusion
Half of the expected 50,000-plus delegates are already gathered here at the United Nations’ World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), scheduled to last a fortnight. …
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 17
Politics Greens Want Funds to Offset Summit Greenhouse Emissions Several observers have noted the hypocrisy of tens of thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, and environmental activists…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 16
Politics Global warming was put on the international map during the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, but is scarcely to be seen in the…
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Dream The Impossible Scheme
The Bush administration came out of the box on the energy issue with a reasonably positive mix of supply-side strategies – they are even willing…
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Texans Won’t Be Driven To California’s CO2 Craziness
While many people call Austin the “San Francisco of the South,” thankfully it's just about the only thing that the Lone Star State has…
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Modern Developments In The Treaty Process
Full Document Available in PDF Treaties are agreements between nations, or states.
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Why Enron Loved Kyoto, And the EU Shouldn’t
What do the proposed European Commission directive for trading CO2 emissions credits and the current malaise affecting American corporate life have in common?<?xml:namespace…
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Vol. VI, No.15
Politics State AGs Bash Bush with Climate Action Report Attorneys General from eleven States sent a letter to President George W.
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Why The “Sense Of Congress On Climate Change” Provision Should Be Stripped From H.R. 4
The findings presented in the Sense of the Congress provisions do not rest on a sound scientific footing and if carried out would…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 14
Politics California CO2 Bill Passes The California legislature passed a bill on July…
Op-Eds
Climate-Science Shuffle
President Bush amazed supporters and detractors alike with his recent submission to the United Nations, “Climate Action Report 2002” (CAR), debuting a U.S. position that…
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The Anti-Power Act: A Jeffords Special
Thursday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote on whether to approve S. 556, “the Clean Power Act,” proposed by James Jeffords,…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 13
Economics “Clean Power Act” Up for Senate Committee Vote The U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee is scheduled to mark up and…
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Another Hot Shoe May Drop
Certainly, the Bush administration recently contradicting the president’s position, adopting to a great extent global warming alarmism in report to the United Nations,…
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Multi-Pollutant Madness
Today the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold its fourth hearing on the “Clean Power Act” (S.556) proposed by Sen. James…
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“Multi-Pollutant” Regulation Of Carbon Dioxide: Shrewd Politics, Bad Policy
Full Document Available in PDF Although President Bush…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 12
Politics Bush Administration Stumbles into Quicksand With the release of a report on global warming, the Bush Administration has…
Op-Eds
Bush Must Withdraw Global Warming Report
The left’s latest attack on President Bush’s opposition to the Kyoto global warming treaty was launched with not even a whisper of warning on June…
Comment
Joint Letter To President Bush On The EPA’s Climate Action Report
Dear President Bush, We write to share our concerns with Climate Action Report 2002, which your administration recently transmitted to the United Nations Framework…
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CEI’s Marlo Lewis submits comments to DOE on the proposed Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program
Letter available in pdf format This letter responds to the Deparment of Energy's request for comment on the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse…
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Is Bush Playing Treaty Chicken?
As one of the first manifestations of President George W. Bush's supposed campaign of foreign policy “unilateralism,” last year he rejected, withdrew from or otherwise…
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The Hot Air from the Bush Administration
Well, Bush didn’t sign the Kyoto Global Warming protocol. It’s too bad he couldn’t leave well enough alone. While continuing to insist that…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 11
Politics Japan, Denmark Parliaments OK Kyoto Protocol Japan’s House of Representatives approved legislation on May 21…
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Campaign ExxonMobil Caters To The Greens
Before its cataclysmic fall, Enron had become the darling of the environmental movement. The company tirelessly pandered to environmentalists to bolster its green image…
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Foreign Entanglements: Dumping The Rome Treaty Raises Further Questions
The Bush administration has formally informed the United Nations of U.S. withdrawal from the Treaty of Rome. That agreement, signed by a departing President…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 10
Politics U.S. Out of Kyoto For A Decade – At Least There is no chance that the United States…
Op-Eds
Greenhouse Road To Ruin: Bad Regulations In Cali
A bill careening down the legislative turnpike in California threatens Americans' freedom of mobility everywhere. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />…
Newsletter
Whatever Happened to Global Warming?
The Frontiers of Freedom Institute U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop (ret.) Chairman The Science…
Op-Eds
Heed Hillary’s Herald
Will Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) intercede with Sacramento politicians to protect the California marketplace for pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs? Senator Feinstein is not widely…
Op-Eds
Ice Shelf Collapse Triggers Debate
In February and March, an ice shelf known as the Larsen B ice shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula collapsed, leading many to raise once…
Newsletter
Vol. VI, No. 9
Politics Senate Passes “Energy” Bill Loaded with Global Warming Policies On April 25, the Senate overwhelmingly passed comprehensive energy legislation by…
Op-Eds
Cali’s Kyoto: Working Off A Bad Model – Corrected
View The Correction To This Article Undaunted by the mess they made of California's electricity marketplace, Sacramento politicians…
Staff & Scholars
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Ben Lieberman
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Consumer Freedom
- Energy
Jacob Tomasulo
Policy Analyst
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Kevin D. Williamson
Writer in Residence
- Climate
- Energy and Environment