Climate change is not a hoax, but as a political matter, it is a persistent pretext for expanding government control over the economy, redistributing wealth, and empowering unaccountable elites at the expense of voters and their elected representatives.

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.

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Crazy on Carbon Dioxide

Full document available in pdf format. On <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />April 8, 2005, the D.C. circuit court of…

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Give Nestlé a Break

Generally, the European left has no love for big American financial firms. But some Swiss shareholder activists have embraced the U.S.’s largest proxy-advisory service in…

Climate

Newsletter

Cooler Heads Newsletter

Politics  Bush: “Kyoto Debate is Over” Following the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol on February 16, President George W. Bush once…

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News Release

CEI Congratulates DOE on Emissions Decision

Contact:     <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273…

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Saudi Canadia?

People who fret over headlines such as “World’s oil problems are only going to get worse” must be growing downright panicky over recent news reporting…

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Cooler Heads

Politics   Kyoto Goes into Force On February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol came into force internationally.  Thirty-four nations are now committed to reducing…

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Green War Gets Radical

  This book is a reality check for those who still view the environmental movement through rose-tinted glasses. While it does not sketch the rise…

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Reef Madness

                                               Full article available as a pdf. Now that <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Russia has ratified the…

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News Release

CEI Experts to Monitor U.N. Global Warming

Washington, D.C., December 13, 2004—International global warming activists will have CEI sound-science team Myron Ebell, Director of International Environmental Policy, and Ivan Osorio, CEI Editorial…

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A Chilling Tale

We know that nature can kill. What most people don't know is that stupid ideas about nature can kill, too.<?xml:namespace prefix = o…

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Cooler Heads

 Politics COP-10 Opens in Buenos Aires with Attacks on US Intransigence As the tenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention…

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Cooler Heads

Politics  Putin Signs Kyoto Ratification, Submits Documents to UN   Russian President Vladimir Putin finally signed the Kyoto ratification act into law…

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News Release

Motion to Censure Myron Ebell

On November 4, CEI Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy Myron Ebell sparked a major controversy in the United Kingdom when, in a BBC…

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The One Percent Solution

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Many of the scientific papers that have contributed to global warming alarmism over…

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No to Kyoto Treaty

<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />USA TODAY's editorial fails to make an economic case for U.S. ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (“Global…

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Vol VIII, No 21

Politics  Howard Victory Keeps Australia Out of Kyoto Protocol                       Australian Prime Minister…

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Missing in Action

In a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />US election campaign that has seen the presidential candidates attack each other with great…

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Flights of Fancy

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> The current British hysteria over global warming, which has seen party leaders…

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Cooler Heads, Vol VIII, No 20

Politics “Forced” Russian Decision Puts Kyoto Protocol on Verge of Ratification                         Acting contrary to the advice of the country’s top scientific…

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Op-Eds

Carbon dioxide is your friend

Jeffrey Sparshott’s otherwise excellent article “Putin Cabinet approves signing of Kyoto protocol” (Business, Friday) unwittingly promotes the alarmist view that carbon dioxide emissions…

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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