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
Blog
No more taxpayer dollars for environmental treaties until UN ends China’s developing country status
Most environmental treaties are a bad deal for the American people, and some are made worse by the fact that the United Nations (UN) classifies…
RealClear Energy
Microsoft Deal to Restart Three Mile Island Could Be a Game-Changer
Microsoft and Constellation Energy, the utility that owns Three Mile Island, announced a new deal on September 20th that will lead to the restart of…
RealClear Energy
The SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule Is a Dark Cloud Over Energy Abundance
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) climate disclosure rule posts real problems for public companies. The SEC’s mission is to do facilitate capital formation and…
Search Posts
Op-Eds
Obama Uses Oil Spill to Push Failed Energy Policies
In his speech, President Obama used the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to push his failed energy policies, such as…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Actions Prevent Timely Clean-Up By U.S. Allies
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that … possess some of the world’s most…
Op-Eds
Obama Blocks Louisiana, Foreign Allies from Oil Spill Clean-Up
The Obama Administration recently used red tape to force Louisiana to stop using 16 barges that were cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico…
Citation
Chris Horner on Obama Energy Policy
CEI's Senior Fellow Chris Horner explains the problems with President Obama's energy policies.
Newsletter
EPA Disapproval, Oil Spill Politics and Ethanol Technology
Last week, the Senate rejected Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval against the EPA. President Obama has refused offers from several European countries to help clean…
Newsletter
Nuclear Power, AmeriCorps Fraud, and Climate Change ‘Denial’
The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future has drawn public ire for their decisions regarding nuclear power. President Obama is…
Op-Eds
Obama Refuses to Waive Law to Allow Foreign Help With Oil Spill
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that . . . possess some of…
Newsletter
EPA Politics, Federal Courts and Chemical Safety
The Senate fails to pass Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval against the EPA. The Senate Judiciary Committee approves Obama’s nomination…
Op-Eds
Action Needed Now to Stop EPA Power Grab
I wrote this morning in the American Spectator about how tight the vote is on Senator Murkowski’s bid to stop the…
Newsletter
Murkowski v. EPA, Big Labor and Debit Card Fees
The Senate will vote today on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. Arkansas…
News Release
FreedomAction.org: Senate Democrats Vote to ‘Turn Out the Lights on America’
Washington, D.C., June, 10, 2010 – The Senate today defeated by a vote of 47 to 53 the Murkowski Resolution of Disapproval that would stop…
Op-Eds
BP’s Disturbingly Close Ties to Obama Administration
Columnist Tim Carney notes that BP, responsible for the massive oil spill, is “a close friend of big government whenever it serves the company’s…
Newsletter
Ethanol, Amtrak and Auto Insurance
New global warming legislation contains subsidies for ethanol production. Amtrak, which loses money annually, is now embroiled in legal troubles. State governments take an increasingly…
News Release
American Economy at Stake in Senate Global Warming Vote
Washington, D.C., June 8, 2010 – On Thursday, the U.S. Senate will vote on a resolution to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from ‘enacting’…
Op-Eds
UVA’s Defense of Michael Mann: Back Off, He’s a Scientist!
The University of Virginia has filed a petition to set aside civil investigative demands (CIDs) issued to it by the Commonwealth’s attorney general,…
Newsletter
Internet Gambling, Carbon Regulations and FDA’s Energy Drink Crackdown
Restrictions on Internet gambling go into effect this week. The Senate will soon vote on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to stop the EPA from regulating carbon…
Newsletter
ClimateGate, Immigration and Discrimination Law
CEI files a lawsuit to force NASA to turn over documents relating to ClimateGate. The Department of Justice may sue over Arizona’s immigration law. The…
News Release
CEI Sues NASA to Force Disclosure of Global Warming Info
Washington, D.C., May 27, 2010—The Competitive Enterprise Institute today filed a lawsuit to force NASA to produce records related to last year’s “ClimateGate” scandal —…
Op-Eds
Climategate and the Scientific Elite
The news that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who popularized the idea of a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and autism, has…
Newsletter
Global Warming Research, Financial Regulation and Transportation Projects
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is investigating the state-funded global warming research of a former University of Virginia professor to see if he defrauded taxpayers;…
News Release
CEI Seeks Climategate- and FOIA-Related Documents from University of Virginia
Washington, D.C., May 24, 2010—On Friday the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, DC free-market think tank, filed a Request seeking records from the University of…
Study
Overturning EPA’s Endangerment Finding Is a Constitutional Imperative
By Marlo Lewis and Former Gov. George Allen…
Newsletter
EPA’s Carbon Regulations, Internet Gambling and Reviving Rail
The Senate prepares to vote on Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to restrict the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon emissions. The House’s Ways and Means…
Newsletter
Energy Taxes, the Kagan Nomination and Toyota’s Safety Record
Sens. John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman prepare to introduce their much-anticipated energy bill on Wednesday. Obama nominates Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Toyota posts…
News Release
Kerry-(Graham)-Lieberman Bill a Huge Payoff to Big Business
Washington, D.C., May 11, 2010—As Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) prepare to introduce their long-delayed energy-rationing legislation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute calls…
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, FCC’s “Future of Media” Project and Another Fannie Mae Bailout
Sen. Lindsey Graham withdraws his support for climate legislation co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman. The Federal Communications Commission is launching a “Future…
Newsletter
The Gulf Oil Spill, GM’s Bailout Troubles and the Costs of CO2 Regulation
Environmentalists call for a stop to offshore drilling in reaction to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. CEI files a complaint against General Motors with…
Newsletter
Greenhouse Gas Regulation, High-Speed Rail and Waiting on Crist in Florida
The 2006 Supreme Court verdict in Massachusetts v. EPA is cited as one of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens’ most influential. President Obama pushes for…
Newsletter
Pesticides, Communication Privacy and Climategate’s Impact
The Environmental Protection Agency proposes incorrectly labeling new biotech fruit as containing pesticides. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires employees to keep records of their…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: March – April 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the March-April…
Newsletter
Anti-Immigration Backlash, Renewable Energy and Chris Horner’s “Power Grab”
California lawmakers call for economic sanctions against Arizona in retaliation for its new immigration law Documents show that Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi has…
Newsletter
Global Warming Endangerment, Free Expression, and the War on Salt
The Senate will soon battle over Lisa Murkowski’s resolution challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s “endangerment finding” on global warming. The Supreme Court overturns a ban…
News Release
Kerry-Graham-Lieberman Cap-and-Tax Deal Implodes In Wake of Video Confession
Washington, D.C. April 26, 2010 – The lead global warming cap-and-tax bill to be unveiled in a Monday press conference by Senators John Kerry…
Op-Eds
Wall Street Shuffle: Their ‘Huge Playground’ is Safe
Those of you worrying on Wall Street, please do not be distracted by the president’s apparent assault. He’s still got your back. With the…
Op-Eds
On Earth Day, you say VAT, I say Cap-and-Trade: Obama’s Other Source of Tax Billions
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of calling Lenin’s birthday “Earth Day” — true story — the increasingly fashionable talking point in Washington is…
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, Private Roads and the Supreme Court on Obscenity
National Journal asks what the cost will be if Congress fails to pass cap-and-trade legislation. The private sector acquires an increasingly large role in transit…
News Release
National Security Risk Posed by Climate Change Policy, New Report Finds
Climate change alarmists have tried marketing their “fix-it” solutions to the public in several ways. Their latest tactic? Convincing people on the center-right that climate…
Newsletter
The Cost of Government, Carbon Taxes and Sugar Subsidies
Today is Tax Day, the day when Americans think most about how much the government is costing them. James Hansen writes in The Huffington Post,…
Pajamas Media
ClimateGate Whitewash
The Star
Another Earth Hour ignored.Too bad it’s the right idea
News Release
EPA Takes On New Power Over Transportation, CO2 Regulation
EPA Announces Deadly CAFE Regs, CO2 Mandates EPA Takes On New Power Over Transportation, CO2 Regulation Washington, D.C., April 1, 2010 – The Environmental…
Fox News
NASA Data Worse Than Climate-Gate Data, Space Agency Admits
News Release
EPA to Seize New Powers, Impose Global Warming Regs on U.S. Economy
EPA to Seize New Powers, Impose Global Warming Regs on U.S. Economy CEI Experts Available for Comment Washington, D.C., March 30, 2010 – The…
Newsletter
Compact Fluorescents, Toyota, and Health Care
USA Today quotes Policy Analyst Michelle Minton saying that CEI will be celebrating the development of the compact fluorescent lightbulb. Members of Congress interrogate Toyota…
The Hindu
Sydney Dims Lights for Earth Hour
Montreal Gazette
Earth Hour is a Joke
National Post
Keep Your Lights on
National Post
Keep Your Lights on
Youtube
Earth Hour’s Purpose Not About Symbolism
ABC News 10
Earth Hour: Millions Plan to Flip Switch Saturday
Brisbane Times
Hearts Beat Faster in Blackout
Global Post
On Today’s Human Achievement Hour Thing
Global Post
Human Achievement Hour – Tomorrow Evening
Global Post
Does Earth Hour Send the Wrong Message?
Providence Journal
RI interfaith group: Shut lights an hour to celebrate Earth
Winnipeg Free Press
Earth Hour Verging on Occult
American Thinker
Turn on your lights and celebrate ‘Human Achievement Hour’
Newsletter
The Last Supper, Health Care, and the Carbon Fuel Tax
According to a study from the International Study of Obesity, the portion-size of meals in Last Supper paintings has increased dramatically over the years. Virginia…
USA Today
Will you Turn off the Lights for Earth Hour? Millions Plan to Flip Switch Saturday
Newsletter
Health, Marriage Penalties, and Emission Standards
The House passes the Democrats’ health care bill. The health care bill penalizes married couples. A Harvard University study analyzes how the nation could meet…
Newsletter
Alcohol, Climate Change, and Landscaping
The government currently enforces a system of alcohol distribution whereby importers, breweries, and wineries can only sell to wholesalers. Some government ads about global warming…
News Release
Force of Darkness “Earth Hour” Challenged by Power of Light “Human Achievement Hour”
Washington, D.C., March 19, 2010—The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a leading free-market think tank, will celebrate the Second Annual “Human Achievement Hour” between…
Newsletter
Ethanol, Human Achievement, and Technology
The Green campaign for the development of corn ethanol may be increasing greenhouse gas emissions. On March 27, people all over the world will turn…
USA Today
Cap-and-Trade Is Like a Zombie from a Bad Horror Movie
A bi-partisan Senate coalition killed costly carbon controls the first time they were introduced, in the summer of 2008. A year later, the…
Newsletter
Salt, Chanel, and Cap-and-Trade
Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduces legislation to ban all salt-use in New York restaurants. Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld shows his “global warming-themed” fall-winter line for…
Newsletter
National ID, Eminent Domain, and the EPA
Legislators are working on an immigration reform plan that includes a biometric identification card for all American workers. The mayor of Detroit plans to employ…
Newsletter
Court Nominations, the TSA, and Climate Change Biases
President Obama nominates left-leaning Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit court. President Obama chooses retired Army Gen. Robert A. Harding to lead the Transportation Security…
Newsletter
Blood Donation, Green Jobs, and the EPA
Sixteen Democratic senators sign a letter urging the FDA to overturn a 1983 ban on gay man donating blood. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-GA) tries to…
News Release
Climategate Reloaded
Prominent climate scientists affiliated with the U.S. National Academies of Science have been planning a public campaign to paper over the damaged reputation of global…
Newsletter
Climategate, Human Achievement Hour and the Citizens United Verdict
Peabody Energy is arguing that Climategate revelations undermine the IPCC’s evidence that greenhouse gas emissions are causing climate change. Activists prepare to observe Earth Hour…
USA Today
‘Anti-Lobbyist’ Obama Administration Recruited Left-Wing Lobbyists to Sell Bogus ‘Green Jobs’
After two studies refuted President Barack Obama’s assertions regarding the success of Spain’s and Denmark’s wind energy programs, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)…
Swamp Politics
Questions Swirl Around Wind-Jobs Studies
Newsletter
Bank Loans, NASA, and Fish Tanks
Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair chastises large banks for tightening their qualification standards for loans. The emails released by NASA’s Goddard…
Swamp Politics
Climategate: This Time It’s NASA
The "Climategate" scandal, which broke in November 2009, revealed what many skeptics had privately suspected. Prominent climate scientists at the University of East Anglia’s…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: January – February 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the January-February 2010 issue: …
Newsletter
Hot Dogs, Global Emissions, and Google
A leading physicians group warns that hot dogs are a choking hazard for children. Trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati comes out in support of a World…
Swamp Politics
Even More Defections From Global Warming
Swamp Politics
Barack Obama’s Climate Change Policy in Crisis
Swamp Politics
Under Obamanomics, Industry Realizes That not Everybody Wins
Newsletter
BPA, NASA, and the Clean Air Act
This week, Oregon voted down a partial ban on Bisphenol A, or BPA. Climategate has renewed the American public’s curiosity about NASA’s role in collecting…
New York Times
16 ‘Endangerment’ Lawsuits Filed Against EPA Before Deadline
New York Times
Tom ‘I, Me, Mine’ Friedman Responds to the Global Warming Deniers, Hilarity Ensues
The New York Times’ leading in-house global warming obsessive, Thomas Friedman, has quite a column today. It is more a tantrum, really, as…
Comment
Late-Breaking Events Trigger New Call for EPA to Reconsider its Global Warming Decision
In two separate filings Tuesday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute challenged massive energy regulations forthcoming from the Environmental Protection Agency. The actions come in the…
New York Times
Big Firms Drop Support for US Climate Bill
New York Times
Three Major Firms Pull Out of Climate Change Alliance
News Release
BP America, Conoco Phillips, and Caterpillar Drop Out of the U. S. Climate Action Partnership
Statement by Myron Ebell, Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute on BP America, Conoco Phillips,…
News Release
New Lawsuit, Petition Challenge EPA Global Warming Regulations
New Lawsuit, Petition Challenge EPA Global Warming Regulations After Lead Global Warming Scientist Admits Data Sloppiness, No Warming CEI, Allies Urge Reconsideration of Economy-Crushing…
News Release
CEI, Science Groups Petition EPA to Reconsider Increasingly Dubious Global Warming “Endangerment” Finding
Regulation Would Bring Economy-Crushing Regulations Based on Shoddy Science Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2009 – Two science groups joined with the Competitive Enterprise Institute on…
Newsletter
Cybersecurity, Global Warming and Organized Labor
Congress considers a bill to fund new cybersecurity initiatives. In the wake of ClimateGate, climate change alarmists are now having to defend the scholastic integrity…
Newsletter
Murkowski vs. EPA, Public Sector Unions and Ozone Rules
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) leads the opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. For the first time in…
Newsletter
Obama’s Spending Freeze, the UN’s Lack of Peer Review and FDA’s Chemical Worries
President Obama proposes a freeze on discretionary spending. A UN scientist confirms that dramatic claims of Himalayan glaciers melting due to global warming were not…
Newsletter
Myths of the Recession, Challenging the EPA and a Victory for Free Speech
Wall Street Journal editor George Melloan challenges popular misconceptions about the recent mortgage crisis and recession in a new book. Four members of Congress challenge…
Newsletter
The Popularity of Al Gore’s Books, Obama’s First Year and Scott Brown’s Impact
NPR reports that people in the UK have resorted to burning used books in their stoves and fireplaces to keep warm amid record-cold temperatures. The…
News Release
Report Card for the Obama Administration
One year ago today, Barack Obama took the oath of office as President of the United States. Since then, he and his appointees have had…
Washington Times
Secret Science from the CIA?
The CIA has reactivated a Clinton-era program, code-named MEDEA (Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis), that allows environmental scientists access to classified…
Richmond Times-Dispatch
UN Sponsored Sad Waste of Energy,Passion, and Money
President Barack Obama has declared that the outcome of the recent United Nations climate confab in Copenhagen—a/k/a the 15th Conference of the Parties…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: November – December 2009
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the November-December 2009 issue: …
Comment
Response to the Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule
Full Document Available in PDF In…
Newsletter
Fewer Hurricanes, Union Lobbying and the Individual Mandate
Financial losses from natural catastrophes decline significantly from 2008. Labor unions continue to lobby for the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act. Health care legislation may…
Newsletter
China in Copenhagen, Cash for Fannie and Freddie and the Pandemic that Wasn’t There
Officials debate the role of China as a “spoiler” in recent UN climate change negotiations. The Treasury Department announces the availability of “an unlimited amount…
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
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Kevin D. Williamson
Writer in Residence
- Climate
- Energy and Environment
