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
Politico
Conservatives Back Anti-SCC Bill
Politico’s Morning Energy covers a coalition letter, signed by CEI, supporting the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act. A group of 20…
Blog
California Legislature Moves to Replace Federal Electric Vehicle Subsidies
Thanks to the federal government, purchasers of electric vehicles are given a $7,500 tax credit.
Politico
First Step Toward Climate ‘Red Team’?
Politico’s Morning Energy discussed the EPA’s “red team” review of climate science with Myron Ebell. The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Myron Ebell says EPA…
The Washington Times
Obama’s Paris Climate Scheme Revelation
The New York Times on Aug. 24, 2014, broke a major news story: “Obama pushing Climate Accord in Lieu of Treaty.” It’s a clumsy headline…
Washington Examiner
Trump Administration Lining Up Climate Change ‘Red Team’
Washington Examiner discusses the “red team-blue team” environmental policy commission with Myron Ebell. The Trump administration is in the beginning stages of forming…
The New York Times
U.S. Reopens Harley Settlement, Cutting Funds for Pollution Reduction Plan
The New York Times covers the Harley-Davidson settlement recently changed by the Trump administration. Last year the United States government fined Harley-Davidson…
Blog
Jeff Clark Will Make an Excellent Assistant Attorney General
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote this Thursday on the nomination of Kirkland & Ellis attorney Jeffrey Bossert Clark to be…
The Daily Signal
Most of Obama’s Green Policies Persist at Department of Defense
The Daily Signal discusses climate change policy within the defense spending bill with Myron Ebell. As Congress considers green projects in a military…
InsideSources
Department of Energy Invests Additional $46M in Struggling Solar Energy Sector
InsideSources covers a coalition letter, including CEI, urging the House Appropriations Committee to cut the SunShot program. When it comes to solar power,…
Washington Examiner
Groups Push to Gut Pentagon’s Climate Directives in Spending Bill
The Washington Examiner covers a coalition letter led by CEI urging Congress to amend a spending bill to not make climate change a priority for…
The Washington Post
The Energy 202: Pentagon Climate Work in the GOP Crosshairs
The Washington Post discusses the Pentagon’s climate policies with Myron Ebell. The Department of Defense has for a long time now been quietly…
Reuters
Conservative Groups Urge Lawmakers to Gut Climate Programs in U.S. Military
Reuters covers a coalition letter, signed by CEI, supporting an amendment to the NDAA regarding climate change policies. A coalition of 14 conservative…
The Hill
United States Going It Alone on Climate Change: What It Means
The Hill discusses President Trump’s trip to the G-20 summit in terms of energy policy with Chris Horner. President Trump’s decision not to…
Blog
EPA Proposes Renewable Fuel Standards for 2018
The gap between statutory obligations and marketplace reality are too big to be managed via ad hoc yearly adjustments.
Morning Consult
Climate Activists Fear Group of 20 May Waver in Support for Paris Climate Deal
Morning Consult discusses the Paris Climate Agreement with Myron Ebell. Climate action advocates fear the United States’ decision to pull out of the…
Blog
Nuclear Power v. Renewable Subsidies
The world will always need an energy source independent of weather and geology, and nuclear is the only power supply able to meet the baseload…
Blog
Will the Swamp Let Trump Reform Fuel Economy?
The administration should explore the legal implications of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which prohibits states, like California, from adopting or enforcing laws or…
Blog
Bad Week in Courts for EPA Policy
If the Trump administration had folded the Obama-era appeal of Judge Bailey’s decision, then the only legal precedent regarding the relevant section of the Clean…
Blog
Energy Week: Moving on from Energy Submission
President Donald J. Trump gave a speech at the Department of Energy in which he said that “our country is blessed with extraordinary energy abundance,”…
Blog
Kids’ One-Sided Climate Change Lawsuit Scheduled for Trial
Judge Thomas Coffin, U.S. Magistrate for the District of Oregon, yesterday set a trial date of February 5, 2018 to hear a lawsuit by a group of…
USA Today
Cut Energy Star from the Budget
Can the quest for energy efficiency be deadly? The horrendous London apartment building fire two weeks ago suggests that it can: One reason for the…
The Daily Caller
Energy Week Is About America’s Energy Future
The Trump Administration has proclaimed this week as “Energy Week” – a time to focus on pro-energy initiatives that can actually boost our economy, promote…
Blog
Is Shareholder Activism Surging or Peaking?
We could be seeing the crest of a movement juiced by the false expectation that Hillary Clinton would become president.
American Public Media
AUDIO: Myron Ebell Discusses Energy Week on APM’s Marketplace
June 26, 2017 – Director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, Myron Ebell, discusses Energy Week and the Trump Administration’s energy…
Blog
Big Oil Wants Congress to Gouge Consumers
Earlier this week, the carbon tax advocacy group Climate Leadership Council (CLC) announced its List of Founding Members. “Founding Corporate Members” include three oil…
Blog
New Study Finds Carbon’s Private Benefits Exceed Social Costs
Private benefit of carbon dioxide exceeds social cost by anywhere from about 4:1 to 34:1.
Blog
Government Documents on EPA-VW Settlement Highlight Need for Congressional Oversight
It is well past time for a committee of jurisdiction to ask of the EPA: How much are you spending on the VW settlement?…
Blog
Exiting Paris Should Weaken Carbon Tariff Threat
Will other nations attempt to punish President Trump for pulling out of the Paris Agreement by imposing “border taxes”—aka carbon tariffs—on U.S. exports?…
Blog
What Congress and the Trump Administration Need to Do to Fix the EPA’s Broken Budget
Congress should demand that EPA submit a budget that is capable of being understood by lawmakers.
Blog
Will Paris Exit Harm U.S. ‘Clean Tech’ Firms?
We’ve heard it for months. If President Trump pulls out of the Paris Agreement, America will be “hobbled in the global race for clean energy…
The Daily Caller
Gov Jerry Brown Considers Linking California’s Cap-and-Trade Program to China
The Daily Caller covers a possible link of California’s carbon trading markets with China. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of California said Thursday he…
Blog
A Short & Concrete Defense of the Legal Risk Rationale behind the Paris Exit
The agreement could have been used to muck up the Trump administration’s planned rollback of Obama-era climate rules, including the Clean Power Plan…
Citation
VIDEO: How CEI Influenced President Trump’s Climate Decision
June 2, 2017 – Director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, Myron Ebell, discusses how CEI’s efforts helped influence President Trump’s…
Blog
Paris Exit Enjoys Electoral Legitimacy Agreement Itself Lacked
Trump’s Paris exit fulfills a 2016 campaign pledge.
News Release
CEI Commends President Trump’s Decision to Cancel Paris Climate Agreement
Today, President Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. The Competitive Enterprise Institute commends the decision as a positive…
News Release
Why the Paris Climate Agreement Is All Pain, No Gain for Americans
As President Trump weighs his final decision on the Paris Climate Agreement, he should consider the benefits of withdrawing U.S. commitment from this harmful treaty,…
Blog
Trump’s Reported Decision to Withdraw from Paris Agreement Right Choice for America and the World
It is now widely reported that President Trump has decided to keep his campaign promise to “cancel” America’s participation in the Paris Climate Agreement.
Blog
Paris Agreement: Is the State Department Running Its Own Game?
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson caused a stir when, on May 11, he signed the Fairbanks Declaration at the Tenth Ministerial Meeting of…
Study
Getting It Wrong: Energy Forecasts and the End-of-Technology Mindset
View Full Document as PDF…
Blog
New York Times Again Misses Mark with Pruitt Hit
The truth is a lot blander then what the journalists would have you believe.
Blog
Two GOP Governors Support Paris Agreement, But President Trump Shouldn’t Be Impressed
So, if the Governors’ stated reasons don’t explain their support for the Paris Agreement, what does? Perhaps cheap environmental virtue combined with a belief that…
Blog
Top Five Reasons the U.S. Must Cancel the Paris Climate Treaty
Abundant, affordable, and reliable energy is critical to modern-day life powering everything from our stoves to our cars.
Blog
Confusing EPA Budget Process Calculated to Resist Meaningful Oversight
Congress can’t exercise the power of the purse to rein in an administrative agency when lawmakers have no idea how the money is spent.
Blog
Update on Paris Climate Treaty
In last week’s report on developments in the debate over the Paris Climate Treaty, we focus on activities by those of us who support the…
Blog
President Trump Should Ignore Advice of Obama Administration Officials on Paris Agreement
Trump’s greatest contribution to American democracy and international energy policy would be to repudiate the politics of plunder, starting with its most grandiose embodiment—the Paris…
News Release
CEI Launches Television Ad Campaign Urging President Trump to Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement
CEI launched an aggressive advertising campaign this week aimed at urging President Trump to keep his campaign promise to American voters and withdraw from the…
Blog
Industrial Energy Consumers to White House: “No Benefit” to Paris Agreement
There is “no benefit” to U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) argues in a letter sent to President…
Blog
Trump Must Show Energy Companies He Will Fight Politics of Plunder
Energy producers will stand up for themselves only if Trump shows, by his actions, that he will fight for them.
Blog
Paris Agreement: Carbon Tax Elders Offer More Bad Advice
The same GOP elders who have been pushing what American Enterprise Institute economist Ben Zycher charitably calls “The Deeply Flawed Case for a Carbon Tax”…
Blog
The Paris Agreement and the Imperial Presidency: My Response to David Bookbinder
The Paris Agreement thus casts a long dark shadow not only on U.S. energy producers but our future as a self-governing polity.
News Release
CEI and AEA Lead Coalition of Forty Four Free-Market Groups Urging Trump To Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the American Energy Alliance (AEA) lead a coalition of 44 free-market and conservative organizations who sent a letter today to…
Letters
Forty Four Free-Market Groups Urge Trump To Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement
View Full Document as PDF Dear Mr. President, We, the undersigned, write in enthusiastic support of your campaign commitments to withdraw fully…
Blog
Paris Agreement: Why Trump Should Ignore Obama Officials’ Legal Counsel
President Trump is expected to decide soon whether he will keep his campaign promise to “cancel” America’s participation in the Paris Agreement.
Blog
Trump Issues Executive Order on ‘America-First Offshore Energy Strategy’
President Trump issued an executive order on Friday directing the Departments of Interior and Commerce to “encourage energy innovation, exploration, and production” in U.S. offshore areas including…
Blog
Double Dose of Good News from D.C. Circuit Court
In a double dose of good news, the D.C. Circuit Court this week put on hold litigation surrounding two major Obama-era EPA rules for existing…
NPR
Energy Star Program For Homes And Appliances Is On Trump’s Chopping Block
NPR discusses the EPA’s Energy Star program with Myron Ebell. Another critic is Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic with the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Activist Attorneys General Urge Trump to Stay in Paris Agreement
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is the gift that keeps on giving. Yesterday, Schneiderman and 13 other Democratic attorneys general urged President…
Bloomberg
State Department Memo Boosts Case to Stay in Paris Climate Pact
Bloomberg discusses the Paris Climate Treaty with Marlo Lewis and Chris Horner. Opponents of the agreement, including Marlo Lewis, a senior fellow at…
Blog
Energy Policy in Trump’s First 100 Days
President Trump’s energy and climate record is one of solid achievement so far. However, until Trump cancels America’s participation in it, the Paris Agreement will…
Washington Post
Top Trump advisers at Odds over Paris climate deal
Washington Post discusses CEI’s digital ad urging President Trump to withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty. But Trump faces competing pressure to leave…
Blog
African Development Requires Economic and Legal Reforms, Affordable Energy
If the African continent is to achieve the prosperity it deserves, then African policy makers and non-governmental organizations alike should strive to implement pro-growth policies.
The Guardian
Trump Aides Abruptly Postpone Meeting on Whether to Stay in Paris Climate Deal
The Guardian highlights CEI’s digital ad urging President Trump to withdraw U.S. commitment to the Paris Climate Treaty. Conservative and free market groups…
Daily Caller
Corporate America’s Support Of The Paris Climate Agreement Is Exactly Why Trump Should Oppose It, Say Former Transition Officials
The Daily Caller discusses with Myron Ebell how corporations are lobbying the Trump administration to stay part of the Paris Climate Treaty. U.S.-based…
Washington Examiner
Conservative Group Prods Trump To Withdraw From Paris Climate Deal
Washington Examiner discusses with Myron Ebell CEI’s ad urging President Trump to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Treaty as he promised to during…
Blog
Saving Coal: Most Foolish Reason to Support Paris Agreement
A gaggle of coal-industry interests is aggressively lobbying the Trump administration to stay in the Paris Agreement, which they claim President Trump could modify to…
American Spectator
Government Makes the Poor Poorer
American Spectator discusses environmental regulations that harm the poor with Marlo Lewis. Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute points out that the…
Washington Times
How government makes the poor poorer
The Washington Times discusses how an enviornmental regulation harms the poor with Marlo Lewis. Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute points out…
The Gazette
Critics of repealed FCC law overreact
The Gazette discusses the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband privacy rule with Ryan Radia. Ryan Radia, research fellow and regulatory counsel at the Competitive…
Investor's Business Daily
Stephen Moore: Government Makes The Poor Poorer
Investor’s Business Daily discuss how certain enviornmental regulations can hurt the poor with Marlo Lewis. Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute points…
Blog
The Great Greenhouse Rollback Begins
On Tuesday, March 28, President Trump signed his Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth. The E.O. directs agencies to suspend, revise,…
Blog
Top Three Silliest Reactions to Trump’s Climate Executive Order
#3 Silliest Reaction: Red Scare! According to Nathan Richardson at Resources for the Future, the big problem with Trump’s Executive Order is what it signals…
Blog
White House Proposes Expanded Cuts to EPA Budget
The White House is going to send Congress an EPA budget that is $5.7 billion, or 31% below current funding of $8.1 billion.
Blog
Buckeye Institute Study: Ohio’s Green Energy Mandate Is Bad Economics
If Ohio's renewable energy mandate is fully implemented, the state would suffer 134,100 fewer jobs and a loss of $15.5 billion in GDP by 2026…
Blog
Let Africa Power Its Future with Affordable Energy
Economic development in Africa needs affordable, reliable fossil fuels, not expensive, intermittent renewables, as some Western environmentalists demand.
Blog
White House Proposes 24% Budget Cut for Environmental Protection Agency
Last week that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had sent its initial budget numbers to the Environmental Protection Agency for the agency…
Blog
Proposed EPA Budget Cuts Raise Serious Concerns
Proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency budget suggest a poorly thought out initial effort.
Blog
Science Committee Spotlights Major Flaws in Calculating ‘Social Cost’ of Carbon Dioxide
Estimating the "social cost" of carbon is a highly speculative enterprise that should not be guiding federal policy on energy and the environment.
Blog
Failure to Renounce Paris Climate Deal Would Create Major White House Policy Conflict
On the campaign trail, presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would “cancel” U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement. He now appears to be back-pedaling.
Watchdog.org
Despite impending plant closures, coal’s death could be ‘greatly exaggerated’
Watchdog discusses with Marlo Lewis the current financial struggle of coal plants, and the future the coal industry is facing. Marlo Lewis, a…
Blog
Will Trump EPA Challenge California’s De Facto Authority to Regulate Fuel Economy?
Former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is now Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pruitt led the coalition of 27 states, more than…
New York Times
E.P.A. Workers Try to Block Pruitt in Show of Defiance
The New York Times discusses Scott Pruitt’s nomination and Civil Service rules at the Environmental Protection Agency with Myron Ebell. The showdown could…
Blog
GOP Beltway Veterans Pitch Trump on Carbon Tax
A group of former Republican White House and cabinet officials advocated a carbon tax in a meeting with Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn, Ivanka Trump,…
Blog
Trump Not Bound by Obama Volkswagen Settlement with EPA
The judicial settlement which was reached between Volkswagen and the U.S. Department of Justice last October infringes on President Trump’s Article II authority.
Blog
Congress Should Nullify Obama’s Unlawful and Wasteful Methane Rule
This week, the U.S. House will consider a Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s methane capture rule.
Blog
Congress Should Eliminate SEC Rule that Discloses Company Information to Foreign Governments
Congress should pass a joint resolution of disapproval and block the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rule relating to ‘‘Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers.”…
Blog
Congress Should Eliminate Obama’s Stream Protection Rule
Congress should eliminate the Department of Interior’s harmful Stream Protection Rule. …
Blog
White House Should Revisit Volkswagen Settlement with EPA
A coalition of free-market groups ask President Trump to investigate the VW emissions settlement with the EPA.
Blog
Senate Should Disregard Spurious Public Health Charges against EPA Nominee Pruitt
The Senate should disregard accusations that EPA Administrator-designate Scott Pruitt is somehow responsible for asthma rates in his home state of Oklahoma.
Blog
Trump Reverses Obama Rejection of Keystone XL Pipeline
President Trump today signed executive orders aimed at reviving the Keystone XL Pipeline and rescuing the Dakota Access Pipeline from death by regulatory delay.
Blog
Pruitt Cool under Fire at Senate Confirmation Hearing
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Scott Pruitt to be Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Blog
Chamber of Commerce CEO Lays Out 2017 Agenda
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue gave his annual “State of American Business Address” to a packed hall at the Chamber’s H…
Blog
Scrutinizing Sen. Carper’s Questions for EPA Nominee Pruitt
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) is unwilling to hold a confirmation hearing on President-elect Trump’s choice for Environmental Protection Agency administrator until the nominee, Oklahoma Attorney…
Blog
Questions Senators Should Ask Rex Tillerson
Tillerson is probably the only influential person President-elect Trump would ever nominate as Secretary of State who supports both a carbon tax and the Paris…
Blog
Activist Criticism Again Misses Mark on EPA Nominee Pruitt
It’s implausible to argue that Pruitt’s past acceptance of PAC donations are “unprecedented” for someone overseeing the…
Blog
Environmental Litigation Strategies and Defenses for Trump Era
Environmental litigation groups like the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity will pursue three types of lawsuits over the…
Blog
New York Times Misleads on U.S.-China Renewable Energy Trade
The source of demand for Chinese renewable energy exports are countries, like the U.S. and Europe, that have mandated and subsidized green energy.
Blog
Energy & Environmental Policy News: Multimedia Roundup
Observations and analysis on recent energy and environment news by senior fellow William Yeatman.
Blog
EPA Region 6 Throws Bombs to the Bitter End
Among the Environmental Protection Agency's 10 offices, by far the most aggressive during the Obama administration has been Region 6, which operates out of Dallas…
Blog
Trump Administration Will Have Legal Authority to Halt Clean Power Plan
It would not be illegal for President Trump to order the Environmental Protection Agency not to enforce the Clean Power Plan.
Blog
Best of the Blog 2016
Certain topics were especially popular with readers in 2016.
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