In recent years, especially under the Biden administration, there has been an unprecedented attack on the supply of reliable and affordable energy, from reducing oil and gas lease sales to the administration’s efforts to shift from reliable electricity sources to renewable energy sources. The partisan Inflation Reduction Act is a central piece of the harmful electrification effort that will undermine the electricity grid. If all of this was not bad enough, there are also governmental efforts to limit Americans from using reliable and affordable energy, such as efforts to severely limit the availability of gas-powered vehicles and bans on natural gas appliances.
Ensuring abundant, reliable, and affordable energy is a must, as is consumer freedom when it comes to energy. The Competitive Enterprise Institute advocates for policies to keep energy abundant, affordable, and competitive. Carbon fuels—coal, natural gas, and oil—provide about 80 percent of U.S. and global energy. They are the world’s dominant energy sources because, in most markets, they beat the alternatives in both cost and performance.
CEI is leading efforts to defend the personal energy choices of Americans. We advocate for policies that will stop government at all levels from banning or restricting what good and services Americans can choose to best meet their needs.
For decades, CEI has opposed regulatory overreach from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies that put undue costs on energy industries and consumers. These include President Biden’s new power plant rule, the “Blackout Plan,” which would ignore the major questions problems detailed in West Virginia v. EPA, increase consumer electricity prices, and threaten grid reliability. CEI’s research and policy proposals have been instrumental on energy issues.
Featured Posts
Blog
Gas stoves are great
The recent approval of a ballot initiative in Washington state to protect natural gas access for consumers has me ruminating on the gas stove issue. I have…
Blog
Congress needs to undo Biden’s sweeping attack on offshore drilling
Today, President Joe Biden announced that he is blocking more than 625 million acres of US ocean from future offshore drilling. The two…
Blog
Electric grid reliability at elevated risk, new report warns
The North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment Tuesday. This report examines the challenges the power grid will face over the …
Search Posts
National Journal
Carbon Tax: Bad Politics, Bad Policy
Carbon taxes have been in the news of late. On July 10, former GOP Congressman Bob Inglis of South Carolina launched the Energy and Enterprise…
Power Magazine
EPA’s “Sue and Settle Rulemaking” Criticized in New Report, Congressional Hearing
From POWER magazine: The EPA's Regional Haze program, established by the Clean Air Act in 1977, seeks to remedy visibility impairment at federal…
Power Magazine
A North Carolina Politician Commits A Happy Fracking Blunder
Some notable achievements have resulted from mistakes. Columbus put America on the map in a misguided attempt to reach the East Indies by sailing…
Washington Times
Carbon tax proposal by left-right coalition sparks backlash
From Daniel Wiser's column in The Washington Times: Continuing discussions about the carbon tax have sparked a backlash among other conservative policy analysts.
Politico
Low-key carbon tax talks fuel conservative outcry
From Darren Goode's article in Politico: But conservative carbon tax critics did a pre-emptive strike — leaking the agenda to select reporters hours…
Politico
Big Solar Projects Ignite Backlash
From Eric Obernauer’s article in The New Jersey Herald: As for the subsidies now received by fossil fuel industries, Brian McGraw of the…
News OK
EPA rule will be costly for Oklahoma, U.S. Chamber study says
From Jay Marks' article in The Oklahoman: “Despite all the publicity for other regulations, one of EPA’s more dubious, and arguably illegal regulatory…
PJ Media
Lead Paint Rule All Wet
If you are planning home renovations, expect to pay extra if you live in an older home. A federal court has ruled that a U.S.
Washington Examiner
Conservative think tank AEI hosted secret meeting with liberal groups on carbon taxation
From The Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential: A copy of the agenda was obtained Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the…
Washington Examiner
Start of Darkness for America’s Shining Cities
For months, we’ve heard about President Obama’s “all of the above” energy policy, but recently, it has become clear that it would be more accurate…
Capital Research
Attack of the Scare Ads!
(Published by Capital Research Center) Since Barack Obama took office in January 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a suite of…
Comment
Testimony on “Mandate Madness: When Sue and Settle Just Isn’t Enough”
Full Document Available in PDF Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Connolly, Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify before…
News Release
EPA’s Regional Haze Regime Imposes Big Costs for Invisible Benefits
Washington, D.C., June 27, 2012 – William Yeatman, Assistant Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, will testify at a June 28 hearing…
Comment
Comment Letter on EPA’s Carbon Pollution Standard
CEI's Marlo Lewis' comments submitted to the EPA on the agency's proposed "Carbon Pollution Standard."…
Capital Research
Banking on Green Energy
How do you know a bank is in trouble? When it suddenly jacks up fees or imposes new ones capriciously, that’s usually a flashing red…
National Journal
Nix the U-MACT
The U.S. Senate will vote Wednesday on legislation (S.J.Res.37) to overturn the EPA’s Utility MACT Rule, a regulation establishing first-ever maximum achievable control technology (MACT)…
National Journal
Energy Companies Are Not Sitting On “Inactive” Oil Leases, President Obama
The Obama Administration is hardly gung-ho about increasing fossil-fuel production. Yet the Department of Interior recently called on oil and gas companies to “develop the…
Daily Mail
Obama’s War on Resource Industries
Also published in The Orange County Register. As much as President Barack Obama claims to be concerned about jobs for Americans, he…
WVNS TV
Machin, Republicans Fight Mercury Emission Rule
From WVNSTV and The State Journal: The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a report called "All Pain and No Gain" earlier this month stating…
News Release
CEI Releases New Study, “All Pain and No Gain: The Illusory Benefits of the EPA’s Utility MACT”
Washington, D.C., June 12, 2012 – Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute published a new study, “All Pain and No Gain: The Illusory Benefits of…
Study
All Pain and No Gain
The MACT Rule supposedly reduces risk to unborn children by lowering methylmercury concentrations in non-commercial fish. But the EPA provides no empirical evidence that any…
WVNS TV
President Obama’s Malthusian New Deal: Recovery Not
With unemployment high, economic recovery elusive, and gasoline prices near record levels, the term Great Recession has joined the economic infamy list that is only…
Newsday
Wind Turbines Endanger Eagles
From Deroy Murdock's op-ed in Newsday: "Lethal take" is Washington-speak for federally approved eagle slaughter. Precise eagle-kill numbers are tough to determine, in…
Reason
Obama Is Losing the Keystone Pipeline Battle
From Ronald Bailey's article in Reason: As analyst Marlo Lewis from the free-market think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute points out…
One News Now
New Cars Affordable to Fewer People
From Chris Woodward's column on OneNewsNow: Marlo Lewis, senior fellow for the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI),…
One News Now
Keystone and the Troubling Growth of NIMBYism
A constant theme of the 2012 election season has been the national bewilderment over President Obama’s initial decision to veto the Keystone XL oil pipeline,…
Legal News Line
The EPA’s Encroachment of Power
From Michael P. Tremoglie's article in Legal Newsline: The past few months have seen the EPA criticized by the very same court which…
Orange County Register
California Shuns Black Gold
From an Orange County Register editorial: "Part of the intentional destruction of the California economy is raising energy prices," Myron Ebell told us;…
National Journal
Carbon Pollution Standard: 4 Ways Weird
EPA’s proposed “Carbon Pollution Standard” requires new fossil-fuel electric generating units (EGUs) to emit no more than 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide (CO2) per megawatt…
National Journal
War on Coal Escalates
Faced with rising gas prices, President Obama recently outlined what he calls an “all-of-the-above” energy policy “that develops every available source of American energy…
National Journal
Obama Kills Coal–As Promised
“If someone wants to build a new coal-fired power plant they can, but it will bankrupt them because they will be charged a huge sum…
News Release
Obama Admits Postponing Policy Solutions Until After Election
Washington, D.C., March 26, 2012 – Oops. President Obama was caught Monday on a live microphone asking outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for more…
The Wall Street Journal
Letter to the Editor: Cheap Gasoline and Human Rights
The notion of $2.50 gasoline would not only be a “veritable policy revolution” domestically (“Newt Is Right About Gas Prices” by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.,…
National Review
An EPA Power Grab
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claim that the Obama administration’s model year (MY) 2017 and later fuel-economy…
National Review
Natural-Gas Vehicles Plan Sputters in Senate
From Ben Geman’s post in The Hill’s E2 Wire Blog: The Senate plan would have expanded credits for purchasing natural-gas cars and trucks,…
National Review
Can California’s Economic Self-Immolation Be Exported?
What is it about California that make its elected leaders work so hard to earn their place in the dunce’s corner alongside Greece? With all…
National Review
Koch v. Pickens Natural-Gas Battle Reaches Senate Floor
From Ben Geman’s article on The Hill‘s Energy & Environment Blog: And several groups are circulating a joint letter to senators opposing the…
National Review
Leave a Light On For Earth Hour
From Peter Roff’s column in the U.S. News & World Report: The modern environmental movement believes that mankind’s activities need to be regulated…
One News Now
Algae for Energy
From Chris Woodward's column on OneNewsNow: Chris Horner, senior fellow for the Competitive Enterprise Institute's (CEI) Center for Energy and Environment, doubts it…
One News Now
Drilling in Alaska a “No-Brainer”
From Chris Woodward's column on OneNewsNow: "What's so terrible about this is that if Bill Clinton had just let this go through in…
Comment
Comment Letter on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Economy Standards
Full Document Available in PDF Re: 2017 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy…
One News Now
Obama’s Amazing Energy Spin Machine
The bankruptcy of Ener1, a “green energy” firm that got a $118 million stimulus grant, has brought the Obama administration’s commitment to sinking billions of…
One News Now
WH Mining Plans Are Anybody’s Guess
One News Now
When ‘Being Green’ Means Subsidies For Rich, Harm for Poor
One thing we can expect in President Obama’s State of the Union speech is for him to echo his declaration from last month, “That’s…
Orange County Register
Bureaucrats Eyeing Your Device Chargers
Aljazeera
U.S. Oil Pipeline: Storm in a Barrel?
Orange County Register
Politics of the Pipeline Denial
Orange County Register
William Yeatman: Politics and the Keystone Pipeline
William Yeatman: Politics and the Keystone Pipeline…
News Release
Congress Should Override Obama’s No on Keystone Pipeline
Washington, D.C., January 18, 2012 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute today reacted to President Barack Obama’s decision to block construction of the Keystone…
Orange County Register
A Tale of Two Energy Policies
Staff & Scholars
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
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Paige Lambermont
Research Fellow
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
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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