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
CEI’s The Surge: California waivers, IRIS, and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and…

News Release
House moves to stop California ban on gas-powered cars: CEI statement
The House today overwhelmingly passed a resolution rejecting a Biden-era EPA waiver allowing California to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. By…

Blog
President Trump’s three new energy executive orders: A quick overview
On April 8, President Trump signed three new executive orders (EOs) that address the United States’s energy sector. The key themes of the EOs include…
Search Posts
The Boston Herald
Lieberman: Whales on losing side of wind energy
Environmentalists want to crack down on the Maine lobster industry in the name of protecting endangered whales, but they turn a blind eye to the…
Blog
CNN Cheers Proposed New Restrictions on Light Bulbs
CNN has some great news for American consumers—your choices in light bulbs are being reduced! The Department of Energy (DOE) will soon propose a new…
Real Clear Energy
The DOE’s Press Release on Federal Building Standards Is Inaccurate and Misleading Puffery
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently released the pre-publication version of a proposed rule to “establish energy performance standards for the construction of new federal…
Products
Free to Prosper: Infrastructure Permitting Reform
In the midst of an economic crisis that has seen American families squeezed at the pump and in their home electricity bills, America needs to…
Products
Free to Prosper: Environment, Energy, and Climate
President Biden campaigned on a promise to “end fossil fuel.” Some dismissed it at the time as rhetorical bluster. We now know he was serious.
Giving Ventures
PODCAST: CEI’s Kent Lassman Joins Giving Ventures
CEI President Kent Lassman joins Giving Ventures to discuss areas for energy policy reform. Click here to read more.
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Rejecting Building American Energy Security Act of 2022
Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader McCarthy: The undersigned organizations write to express our strong opposition to Senator Joe…
Blog
Conversations from COP27: Kent Lassman Interview Series
CEI President Kent Lassman attended the annual COP27 conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt as a non-governmental observer, formally the 27th meeting of the Conference…
USA Today
America needs the nuclear option to keep our homes warm – and to fight climate change
In early November, the U.S. Department of Energy chose Westinghouse to build a new, much-needed nuclear-power plant, one that will employ “the most advanced light…
Blog
Gas Prices Are Lower than a Year Ago: What Does that Mean for Inflation?
Even with inflation near 40-year highs, gas prices are lower than a year ago, and not just in real, inflation-adjusted terms. They’re lower even…
Blog
COP27: CEI’s Kent Lassman Interviews Rep. Miller
CEI President Kent Lassman attended the annual COP27 conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt as a non-governmental observer, formally the 27th meeting of the Conference…
Blog
COP27: CEI’s Kent Lassman Interviews Rep. Cloud
CEI President Kent Lassman attended the annual COP27 conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt as a non-governmental observer, formally the 27th meeting of the Conference…
Blog
COP27: CEI’s Kent Lassman Interviews Rep. Weber
CEI President Kent Lassman attended the annual COP27 conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt as a non-governmental observer, formally the 27th meeting of the Conference…
Blog
COP27: CEI’s Kent Lassman Interviews Rep. Curtis
CEI President Kent Lassman attended the annual COP27 conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt as a non-governmental observer, formally the 27th meeting of the Conference…
Blog
Some Climate-Related Items that Recently Caught My Eye
Manhattan Contrarian Francis “Buddy” Menton hit two homers this week. In “Don’t Be So Sure the Climate Extremists Have Won,” Menton offers hopeful words…
Net Zero Watch
Video: Mario Loyola Joins Net Zero Watch to Discuss COP27
Senior Fellow Mario Loyola joined Net Zero Watch to discuss COP27 and international climate policy.
National Review
COP27 Cables: Cash, Promises, and Absurdity
As was the case for the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, I’m filing cables on the annual United Nations–led climate-change confab. This year, COP27,…
National Review
Conversations about Forced Scarcity, COP27 Finds Its Hero
The processes internal to the COP27 negotiations are far behind schedule to produce any consensus on tough issues such as reparations, but attendees found a…
Blog
Could China’s Status as a Developing Nation in Climate Treaties Finally Be Coming to an End?
At the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) currently underway in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, representatives…
National Review
COP27 Cables: Reality Bites and the Gobbledygook of Nonbinding Goals
As was the case for the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, I’m filing cables on the annual United Nations–led climate-change confab. This year, COP27,…
Reason
Permitting Hell vs. Climate Hell at COP27
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Mario Loyola proceeded during the questions and answers session to elegantly puncture the sunny “stated policies” predictions of rapid renewable energy…
News Release
Biden Administration Proposes New Methane Rule that Will Harm Domestic Energy Production, Raise Prices
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed rule today mandating reductions in methane from fossil fuel production. President Biden announced the proposed rule during a…
Blog
Who’s Not Buying Electric Vehicles? Single Vehicle Households, for One
Proponents of electric vehicles (EVs) have little to say about the one-third of American households that own only a single car or truck. That isn’t…
Legal Brief
CEI et al. Opening Brief in CEI v. EPA
CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED CASES Pursuant to Circuit Rule 28, petitioners American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Clean Fuels Development Coalition, Competitive Enterprise …
Blog
A Dose of Reality Over “Zero-Emissions” Electric Vehicles
Far too many journalists sound like cheerleaders when the topic is electric vehicles (EVs). That’s why RealClear Investigations’ Zero Emissions From Electric Vehicles? Here’s…
Reason
How Federal Energy Regulations Make Dishwashers Worse
Data compiled by D.C.’s Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) show that average cycle times rose from just over an hour when the…
National Review
Biden Regulators Are Coming for Your Furnace
The Biden administration is not known for its light-handed regulatory touch, and so we should not be surprised that its efforts have included unhelpful initiatives targeting …
Real Clear Energy
Expensive Energy a Core Feature of Biden’s Climate Agenda
“Every government intervention creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions,” observed the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. He was being…
Real Clear Energy
Expensive Energy Is a Core Feature, Not a Bug, of Biden’s Climate Agenda
“Every government intervention creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions,” observed the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. He was being…
Blog
A Tough Winter Ahead for Heating Bills, According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration
High gasoline prices will soon have an equally unpleasant partner in the form of high energy bills this winter, according to the U.S. Energy Information…
Comment
Comments to DOE: Energy Conservation Standards Program
Comments Submitted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Consumers’ Research, Center for the American Experiment, JunkScience.com, Project 21, Caesar Rodney Institute, Rio Grande Foundation, Committee for…
Blog
CEI Leads Coalition Comment Critical of DOE’s Proposed Furnace Regulation
Several recent Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency standards for appliances have been a bad deal for consumers, but the latest proposed standard for residential natural…
Comment
Comments Regarding Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces
The undersigned free market and consumer organizations have a longstanding interest in bringing to light the deleterious consequences of federal regulations, which are often neglected…
Fox Business
Energy experts sound alarm on Europe’s energy crisis as ‘clear and present warning’ for America
A group of energy and environment experts are sounding the alarm on U.S. climate policy and pointing to Europe’s crisis as an example…
Blog
Are Nord Stream Methane Leaks “Catastrophic for Climate”?
Despite acknowledging that the Nord Stream pipelines were likely bombed by saboteurs, the Associated Press yesterday focused on the ruptures as a climate threat…
News Release
CEI Welcomes Decision to Remove Manchin-Schumer Permitting Bill from the Continuing Resolution
The United States Senate voted to advance a continuing resolution without a permitting bill championed by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). After the text of the…
Blog
The Manchin Bill Will Not Reform Permitting Process
The Manchin-Schumer permitting bill, which has been attached to the Continuing Resolution funding the federal government beyond September 30, contains many promising-sounding reforms that…
News Release
Comprehensive Permitting Reform is Vital to Unleashing America’s Energy Abundance
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration and many environmental activists insist the United States and the rest of the world must transition to non-fossil fuel energy sources by…
Study
Unleashing America’s Energy Abundance
As a side deal to the Inflation Reduction Act of August 2022, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed to streamline infrastructure permitting.
News Release
Negatives Outweigh the Positives in Manchin-Schumer Permitting Bill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the text of a bill proposing minor changes to the federal permitting…
News Release
CEI Supports Sullivan-Lee Amendment to Eliminate Unfair Advantages Given to China in Kigali Treaty
The Competitive Enterprise Institute strongly supports the Sullivan/Lee Amendment that would eliminate the unfair advantages given to China under the Kigali Amendment, but still opposes…
Blog
Inflation Reduction Act and West Virginia v. EPA: Legislative History Refutes Sen. Carper’s Spin
“And whatever interpretive force one attaches to legislative history, the Court normally gives little weight to statements, such as those of the individual legislators, made after the…
Blog
Could Heating Costs Set Records This Winter?
Gasoline prices reached their peak at over $5 per gallon last June before declining to the current $3.70, but the worst may be yet…
Comment
Coalition Comments on Proposed Determination to Prohibit Disposal Sites in Pebble Deposit Area
Comments of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, 60 Plus Association, Heritage Action for America, Freedom Works, Project 21, Reaching America, American Lands Council, American Business…
Wall Street Journal
Renewable Energy? Where’s Your Permit?
The U.S. has one of the developed world’s most costly, time-consuming and unpredictable systems for authorizing big infrastructure projects. In the Inflation Reduction Act, Sens. Joe…
Real Clear Energy
An Update on Anti-West Virginia Scheming in the Schumer-Manchin Reconciliation Bill
Last Friday I discussed two provisions in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that seemingly aim to rebut the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in West Virginia…
Comment
CEI Comments to EPA Regarding Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule, Proposed Rule
INTRODUCTION The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a policy and analysis organization committed to advancing the principles of free markets and limited government. We are particularly…
Blog
Does the Schumer-Manchin Bill Undercut West Virginia v. EPA? No, But Not For Lack of Trying
This Wednesday on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow and later on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned that buried…
News Release
Senate Votes on Sensible Reforms to Fix Broken Environmental Permitting System
In a vote that brings big implications for energy, mining, and infrastructure, the Senate voted today for reforms that would make improvements in the nation’s…
Blog
Think Handouts to Rich Electric Vehicle Buyers Are Unfair? Check Out the Inflation Reduction Act’s Homeowner Tax Breaks
The Manchin-Schumer Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 extends the current tax credits up to $7,500 for electric vehicles (EVs). Among the many flaws with…
Blog
Important NEPA Reform Vote in Senate this Week, with Implications for the Schumer-Manchin Package
The Senate may vote as soon as this week to reinstate Trump administration reforms to the federal permit process under the National Environmental Policy Act…
Blog
Net Zero, Joe Manchin, and High Energy Prices
This morning National Review published my article expressing skepticism that the advance of “net-zero” climate policy is inevitable (or even likely). It was written…
News Release
Manchin/Schumer Deal on Health Care, Energy Spending is Bad News for Inflation, Taxpayers
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin reportedly announced a surprise deal on July 27 that resuscitates Democrats’ big government spending ambitions on…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Opposing the Confirmation of Joseph Goffman as EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation
Dear Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Capito, and Members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works: The undersigned organizations and individuals write to express…
Fox Business
Experts slam Pete Buttigieg’s comments on EVs: ‘A con job’
Fox Business cites CEI Center for Energy and Environment Director Myron Ebell on electric vehicles. However, experts highlighted that cheaper EVs are still more expensive than comparable…
Law & Liberty
Zero Impact’s Grim Cost
Philosopher and energy expert Alex Epstein sets himself two goals in his new book, Fossil Future—one significantly more difficult than the…
News Release
Declaring National Climate Emergency Would Be an Abuse of Power and Further Raise Energy Prices
WASHINGTON—Recent reports suggest President Biden is considering declaring a “national climate emergency” citing authority under the Defense Production Act to impose energy policy in…
Blog
Green Politics Leads to Higher Gas Prices
Americans have been plagued by high gas prices in recent months, with recent polls showing fuel costs at the top of the list of…
News Release
Remembering Pat Michaels (1950-2022)
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the entire policy community lost a friend and colleague last week. We mourn the death of Dr. Patrick J. Michaels…
Blog
DOT’s Doublespeak Carbon Reduction Program
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is proposing to require its state and metropolitan counterparts to reduce on-road carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from portions of…
The Federalist
How the Supreme Court Upended EPA’s Power Grab and Curbed the Administrative State
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency upends the EPA’s assertion of authority, under the Obama and Biden administrations, to…
Blog
Some Good News on the Mountain Valley Pipeline
There are a lot of bad federal policies currently blocking American energy. Perhaps worst of all are measures bottling up Appalachia’s abundant natural gas that…
News Release
CEI Experts React to Supreme Court’s West Virginia v EPA Decision
WASHINGTON—In deciding West Virginia v. EPA today, the Supreme Court held that Congress never authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions from…
Testimony
CEI Expert Testimony at Legislative Hearing to Strengthen Energy Infrastructure, Efficiency, and Financing
House Subcommittee on Energy 2123 Rayburn House Office Building June 22, 2022 Legislative Hearing to Strengthen Energy Infrastructure, Efficiency, and Financing Remarks of Ben…
Blog
Yellen Proposes Capping Oil Prices? Not Quite
Cable news and Twitter are aflame with outrage today that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen proposed price caps for oil. Fortunately, the rumors are false.
Blog
The Many Arbitrary and Capricious Aspects of SEC’s Climate Risk Disclosure Rule
Yesterday (June 16), CEI submitted two comment letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its proposed rule: “The Enhancement and Standardization of…
Blog
The New Joe Biden – Friend of American Industry?
In recent months, President Biden has undertaken several measures he claims will encourage domestic drilling, mining, and manufacturing. It’s a big change from 2021 when…
American Banker
Financed emissions are banks’ latest climate-change challenge
American Banker cites CEI Senior Fellow Richard Morrison on financed emissions: Shareholders are already deciding whether companies should disclose more information about their emissions, often…
The Washington Post
Biden wants to rebuild the EPA. He doesn’t have the money to do it.
The Washington Post cites CEI Director of Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on the EPA’s budget: “I’m happy to see the…
Blog
America’s Heat Pump Emergency
The Biden administration announced it will use the Defense Production Act (DPA)—a Korean War-era statute allowing presidents to demand American industry increase production of anything…
Blog
More Staycations This Summer, Thanks to Biden’s Gas Price-Raising Agenda
Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the summer driving season, and vacationers will be paying record-high gasoline prices—and quite a few families may even have to…
Fox News
Washington’s war on air conditioning heats up
It’s the scariest moment of the year for many homeowners – that first really hot day, usually in May, when we turn…
Creators
Pumping Up Prices
Creators cites CEI Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on gas prices: “If big oil could raise prices anytime they wanted and get…
News Release
Biden Cancels Oil Lease Auctions
With gas prices way up, the Biden administration has just canceled significant oil and gas lease sales pending before the Department of the Interior. CEI…
Blog
A Bad Day for Incandescent Light Bulbs – and Freedom of Choice
Consumers are better off with choices, and worse off when federal regulators step in and take them away. That’s the best way to view today’s…
Blog
CEI Comments Explain Why FERC’s Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Policy Cannot Pass a Cost-Benefit Test
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) proposal to consider climate change impacts in reviews…
Comment
CEI Comments to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Docket No. PL21-3-000
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Order on Draft Policy Statements, March 24, 2022. Docket No. PL21-3-000 Comments submitted by Marlo Lewis, Patrick Michaels, and Kevin Dayaratna.
Blog
The Flipside of Earth Day
If I wanted America to fail,To follow, not lead,To suffer, not prosperTo despair, not dreamI’d start with energy.I’d cut off America’s supply…
News Release
Final NEPA Rule Will Encourage Anti-Development Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Projects
The White House today released its final rule updating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the law governing permitting and environmental review for new federal…
American Energy Alliance
In the Pipeline, Daily Energy News
The American Energy Alliance cites Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis, Jr.’s “SEC Ignores the Easiest Way to Reduce Climate Policy Risks – Oppose the NetZero Agenda”…
Blog
SEC Ignores the Easiest Way to Reduce Climate Policy Risks – Oppose the NetZero Agenda
The Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rationale for its proposed climate risk-disclosure rule does not pass the laugh test. The SEC claims it seeks…
Blog
E-15 May Do More Food Price Harm than Gas Price Good
The Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency has announced an emergency waiver allowing gasoline blends containing up to 15 percent ethanol in a bid to…
Blog
Algae and High Gasoline Prices
If you have managed to avoid record-high gasoline prices by using algae fuel instead, you have former President Barack Obama to thank. If not, you…
Blog
Time for a Sensible Sense of Congress Resolution on the Paris Agreement
National Journal yesterday confirmed what has become increasingly obvious since October 2021: “Biden’s Climate Goals Are in Peril.” The Democrat-controlled Congress has failed…
Blog
Rep. Bill Johnson Asks Oil CEOs to Stop Apologizing and Be Proud of Producing Energy
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a long hearing yesterday to harangue oil company CEOs for price gouging as the cause of high…
Desert Sun
Gas Station Owners, Oil Companies Are Not to Blame for High Gas Prices
Whenever the price at the pump increases, so does the finger-pointing, but much of the blame game over high gasoline prices is neither accurate nor…
News Release
New IPCC Report Deals in Politically-Convenient Fictions Rather than Fact-Based Reality
WASHINGTON—The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today released the findings of its third working group, focused on mitigation and adaptation to…
Blog
Invoking Defense Production Act Won’t Unleash Domestic Mining
President Biden is reportedly going to invoke the Defense Production Act for the minerals needed to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries. But it’s all…
Inside Sources
Who NOT to Blame for High Gasoline Prices
Whenever the price at the pump increases, so does the finger-pointing, but much of the blame game over high gasoline prices is neither accurate nor…
The Washington Examiner
Will Ukraine Invasion Spark Another Trans-Alaska Pipeline Moment?
Could Russia’s invasion of Ukraine convince the Biden administration to abandon its opposition to increased domestic oil and natural gas production? It seems doubtful, but…
Blog
Further Thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Clean Power Plan Case
I heartily recommend the reply briefs by petitioners West Virginia and Westmoreland Mining Holdings, LLC in the Supreme Court’s Clean Power Plan case,…
Blog
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine And Energy Prices: Myth vs. Fact
Candidate Joe Biden repeatedly promised to aggressively target new domestic oil and natural gas projects in the U.S. as part of his climate change…
News Release
After Bloom Raskin Withdrawal, Biden Should Nominate Someone Focused on Financial Stability, Monetary Policy
President Biden’s nominee to be Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew her nomination from consideration today, after it became clear that…
Inside Sources
Russia’s Invasion Impact Hits Beyond Oil to Mining and Metals
Much has been said about the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on oil and natural gas markets and the lessons for American energy policy.
Fox and Friends First
VIDEO: Myron Ebell Joins Fox & Friends First
Director for the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell joins ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss President Biden’s Russian oil ban and the need…
The Washington Times
Why Biden Energy Policies Have Contributed to Surging Oil Prices
The Washington Times cites Director of the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on why the Biden Administration should change its stance…
Fox Business
West Virginia vs. EPA at Supreme Court: Energy Costs at Stake as Ukraine-Russia War Rages
Fox Business cites Director of the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on the West Virgina v. EPA Supreme Court case:…
The Washington Times
Journalists Under Fire in Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The Washington Times cites Director of Center for Energy and Environment Envir Myron Bell on how the Biden Administration’s anti-energy policies will continue to harm…
News Release
Biden Admin’s Reinstatement of California’s Power to Rig Auto Markets Deserves to Lose in Court
The Biden Administration announced today it will reinstate the waiver that allows California to set its own fuel economy standards. CEI experts argue it faces…
News Release
Unless Biden Admin Reverses its Anti-Energy Policies, Russian Oil Imports Ban Will Hurt American Consumers
The Biden administration announced a ban on oil imports from Russia, in response to the invasion of Ukraine. CEI experts reacted to the decision. Director…
Staff & Scholars

Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance

Paige Lambermont
Research Fellow
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
- Energy
- Energy and Environment

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