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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RealClear Energy
The SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule Is a Dark Cloud Over Energy Abundance
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Combatting climate anxiety: Yes, it’s okay to have children
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Spam alert! A devastating outlook on the SEC’s final climate disclosure rule
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Newsletter
Vol. IV, No. 2
Politics Global Warming Activists Work Agitate Iowans The Washington, D.C.-based green activist group, Ozone Action, has been protesting the lack of attention paid…
News Release
Weather Models Failed Again
Washington, DC, January 25, 2000 – Over the weekend, local weathermen predicted that the East Coast, and probably Washington, DC, would be hit by…
Study
Regulating Greenhouse Gases: Will EPA Take a Dive?
The International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) wants the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon dioxide. This fall, ICTA, an anti-technology group…
Newsletter
Vol. IV, No. 1
Politics Congress Oversees EPA’s New Source Review When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a meeting on January 13 to discuss “an alternative…
Study
Earth Report 2000
Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet Date: 1999 Edited by: Ronald Bailey Published by: McGraw-Hill Earth Report 2000 is a…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 26
Politics Aviation and Global Warming Aviation has come under attack in the global warming debate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 25
Politics Ford Leaves GCC In a terse statement dated December 3, the Ford Motor Company informed the Global Climate Coalition “that it will…
Products
KEMP: The Folly of Kyoto
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 24
Politics Pew Runs for Cover As reported in our last issue, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in a letter from Jack Kemp, challenged the Pew Center…
Study
First Do No Harm: EPA’s New Rules Will Worsen Smog
On May 13, 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules tightening motor vehicle emissions, including those from light trucks, a category of…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 23
Politics Yawns in Bonn The fifth Conference of the Parties (COP-5) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded with little fanfare…
News Release
Kemp Challenges Pew Center to Global Warming Debate
Washington, DC, November 1, 1999 – In an open letter published in today’s Roll Call newspaper, Competitive Enterprise Institute Distinguished Fellow Jack Kemp invited…
News Release
Kemp Challenges Pew Center to Global Warming Debate
Washington, DC, November 1, 1999 – In an open letter published in today’s Roll Call newspaper, Competitive Enterprise Institute Distinguished Fellow Jack Kemp invited…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 22
Politics Bonn is Underway The fifth Conference of the Parties (COP-5) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is under way…
Study
Kemp: On Kyoto, The Issue Is Power
The Kyoto Protocol on global warming, and its underlying premise that the entire world’s energy policies can be regulated pursuant to an international treaty,…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 21
Politics CAFE and Presidential Politics The Greens launched a major effort this year to block a freeze on the Corporate Average Fuel Economy…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 20
Politics Climate Change Funding Unabated The Clinton-Gore Administration continues to engage in attempts at backdoor implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. Last year Congress…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 19
Politics Bush Attacks Kyoto Those who are concerned about the adverse economic consequences of cutting energy use to prevent the dubious threat of…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 18
Politics The Candidates’ Views on Kyoto As a resource to our readers, the Cooler Heads newsletter is providing the views of the presidential…
Study
Jack Kemp: Closing Down the Hard Times CAFE
Congress soon will decide whether to continue the “freeze” on existing CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards that have been in place for…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 17
Politics Clinton’s Biomass Program In an obvious attempt to buy support from farmers for its global warming policies, the Clinton Administration has unveiled its latest…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 16
Politics Knollenberg Language Strengthened Congressional attempts to limit federal agencies’ efforts to implement or promote the Kyoto Protocol have intensified during the current appropriations cycle.
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 15
Politics Early Action Credits: Road to Kyoto Early action crediting is being promoted as a way to protect industry in the event that the…
News Release
Kemp to Testify Before Congress Against Early Action Legislation
Washington, DC, July 13, 1999 – “Will corporations fall for global-warming trickery?” asked the Honorable Jack Kemp, Distinguished Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 14
Politics Court Ruling Defeats Kyoto In May the federal appeals court invalidated the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for ozone and particulate matter on the grounds…
Study
Market-Based Chimera: Emission Trading Fails to Deliver
View Full Document as PDF The Clinton-Gore Administration is trying to persuade the American people that the Kyoto Protocol, the most ambitious…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 13
Politics Bill to Ban Early Action Crediting Recent attempts to implement the Kyoto Protocol have come under the guise of giving emission credits to companies…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 12
Politics Implementation Sans Ratification A leaked EPA document dated April 23, describes an April 7 meeting between EPA and White House staffers, and private…
Study
Alternative to Kyoto Protocol Concedes Too Much
View Full Document as PDF The Energy and Climate Policy Act of 1999, S. 882, has been introduced as an alternative…
News Release
Sea-Level Rise: Is Global Warming To Blame?
Washington, DC, May 27, 1999 – A packed house of staff and media gathered today on Capitol Hill to hear about sea-level rise from…
Newsletter
Sea Level Change
Full Briefing available in PDF format. Preface Good afternoon. What I would…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 11
Politics Texas Governor Declares Belief in Global Warming Theory The GOP presidential frontrunner, George W. Bush, may have conceded the global warming debate to Vice…
News Release
Sea Level Debate is Flooded with Misinformation: Research scientist is cool to EPA’s global warming claim
Washington, DC, May 25, 1999 – The Environmental Protection Agency continues to peddle unfounded fears about global warming and sea level rise even though…
News Release
Hurricane’s a-comin’–Should I Sell My Car? Questions and Answers About Hurricanes and Global Warming
Summer's almost here, and the weather is on everyone's mind. In “hurricane country” that's a very special concern, and last year's devastation from Hurricane…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 10
Politics New Bill to Implement Clinton-Gore Agenda Just when it looked like the Clinton Administration’s global warming agenda was…
News Release
Jack Kemp Named Distinguished Fellow At Competitive Enterprise Institute
Washington, DC, April 29, 1999 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute is pleased to announce that the Honorable Jack Kemp has been named CEI’s first…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 9
Politics Senate Bill Would Spend $2 Billion to Prevent Global Warming On April 27 Senators Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman…
News Release
Where’s the Warming? Unusual Weather Does Not Equal Climate Change
The debate over human-induced global warming is far from settled. Listening to radical environmental activists and Vice President Al Gore, however, would give one…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 8
Politics Green Activists Criticize Gores Environmental Record If Al Gore wants to become the next president of the United…
News Release
Media Advisory: Earth Day Experts
Most Americans want a clean environment. That is no surprise. What surprises traditional environmental activists is that most people don’t support extensive federal regulation.
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 7
Politics Senators Hagel and Murkowski to Introduce Global Warming Bill Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK), Chairman of the Senate Energy…
Newsletter
The Ecological Benefits Of Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels
Full Briefing available in PDF format. 2325 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESWASHINGTON, DC I…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 6
Politics New Early Action Bill Introduced The latest attempt to smooth the way for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 5
Politics Iceland Will Not Sign Kyoto The first major defection from the Kyoto Protocol comes from an unlikely source.
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 4
Politics Greens Oppose Early Credit Bill Several Green groups, including the Center for International Environmental Law, Greenpeace, National Environment…
Study
Early Action Crediting: Growing the Kyoto Lobby at Small Business’ Expense
View Full Document as PDF “Credit for early action” – a policy proposal developed by the Environmental Defense Fund and warmly…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 3
Politics Clinton Asks for $4 Billion to Prevent Global Warming In a blatant attempt to implement the unratified Kyoto…
Study
Credit for Early Implementation: Kyoto Through the Front Door
Last year, in an attempt to safeguard the Senate’s constitutional prerogatives in treaty-making, Congress barred the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on…
Newsletter
Vol. III, No. 2
Politics Greens Criticize Early Emissions Bill A bill introduced by Sens. John Chafee (R-RI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Connie…
Op-Eds
Beware of the Kyoto Compromise: Kemp and Smith Op-Ed in NY Times
In November the Clinton Administration signed a treaty, negotiated in Kyoto, Japan, that purports to temper “global warming” by imposing a schedule of emissions reductions…
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