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
Will Big Nuclear make a comeback?
Following Georgia Power Plant Vogtle Unit 4’s completion and coming online earlier this year, there aren’t any outstanding large nuclear reactors under construction in the United…
Blog
The problem with power subsidies
A new paper from the Energy Alliance highlights one of the biggest causes of rising unreliability on the electricity grid: subsidies. The report’s author, Bill Peacock,…
Fox News
Energy groups pan Biden-Harris $7.3B ‘clean energy’ spending ahead of battleground visit
Fox News cited CEI’s experts on environmental policy “Rather than forcing on rural Americans’ energy sources they don’t want, the administration ought to…
Search Posts
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.
Blog
NRDC Is Wrong: Trump Can Issue Day 1 Executive Order Declaring Clean Power Plan Illegal
The Clean Power Plan in its current form is illegal, and there is no problem with the President issuing an executive order to this effect…
Blog
Two Recommendations for EPA: 1) Revise, Don’t Repeal; 2) Do Your Job
There is a climate policy that’s even worse than EPA regulations written by Natural Resources Defense Council lobbyists: state torts for injunctive or monetary relief…
Blog
Obama Couldn’t Win a Third Term, Because He Would Have To Own His Global Warming Policy
I strongly doubt that President Obama would win a third term, as he claimed yesterday.
Blog
EPA’s Clean Power Plan Lies Undermine Congressional Oversight
Congress’s primary means of investigation are hearings and follow up questions, but these mechanisms are rendered meaningless when the agency lies.
Blog
Congress Must Combat Threats to Affordable Energy
Policy makers should reject policies to tax and regulate away mankind’s access to affordable energy.
Blog
Can Trump (or Congress) Rescind Obama’s Arctic Drilling Ban?
President Obama yesterday designated “the vast majority of U.S. waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas as indefinitely off limits to offshore oil and gas…
E&E News
In right’s energy-subsidy clash, shades of Koch vs. Pickens
National Review
Who is ‘Richard Windsor’?
In The Liberal War on on Transparency, published by Threshold Editions last month, I revealed the existence of a series of black, or “alias” email…
Blog
Can Congress Veto EPA’s Fuel Economy Rush Job?
The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent proposal to keep in place the agency’s model year greenhouse gas emission standards for new motor vehicles is the epitome…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Political Disasters in Science and Economics
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Marc Edwards and Dan Liljenquist recount politically induced disasters from the perversion of science to the pension crisis.
Blog
Trump Picks Scott Pruitt to Head EPA
Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump picked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The nomination is significant in several ways.
Blog
EPA Rushes to Lock in Obama Administration Fuel Economy Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency last Wednesday released its proposed Mid-Term Evaluation (MET) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for model year (MY) 2022-2025 passenger vehicles.
Blog
Drain the Swamp: Sunset the Renewable Fuel Standard
“Draining the swamp” includes abolishing the RFS.
Blog
Federal Biofuel Programs Headed for Failure
Today the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released two reports on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
Blog
The New Congress Should Repeal All Energy Efficiency Mandates
As part of its new agenda for January, Congress should repeal every energy-efficiency mandate on the books, ranging from Corporate Average Fuel Economy…
Blog
Free Market Opportunities for the Trump Administration
This election has given us one more demonstration that knowledge is dispersed and “trusting the experts” to know the future is foolish. The unexpected success…
Blog
The Real Victim in the Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy Is the Company behind the Project
The real victims in the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline is Dakota Access Services, the company behind the 3.7 billion project that would move…
Blog
The “Voluntary” Component of EPA’s Clean Power Plan Makes It Even More Unlawful
Today I filed a comment letter on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule titled “Clean Energy Incentive Program Design Details.” The comment period closes today…
Blog
5 Scariest Halloween Regulations
Regulatory dark matter is a Washington boogeyman. In 2015, there were 39 regulations for every one law passed by Congress. That’s a lot of rules…
Blog
Global Warming Concerns ‘Not a Blank Check’ for Clean Power Plan
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last week released a 320-page transcript of the September 27th oral argument on EPA’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emission standards…
Blog
Clean Power Plan Oral Argument: Will Limited Government Survive the Age of Global Warming?
It’s now 10 days since the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral argument on EPA’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emission performance standards for existing fossil-fuel power…
Los Angeles Times
Why should only solar and wind get the tax credits? This industry wants in
Los Angeles Times discusses subsidies for the energy storage industry with William Yeatman. “We’re getting to a really tenuous connection,” said William Yeatman, senior…
Blog
Does Climate Change Cause an Additional 140,000 Deaths a Year?
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, environmental researcher Bjorn Lomborg calls on the next president to “get our priorities straight” on climate change. A…
Blog
Free Market Allies Challenge Legality of EPA’s Clean Energy Incentive Program
On behalf of policy analysts from 13 non-profit free-market organizations and seven independent scholars, I have submitted a joint comment letter…
Morning Consult
Do Noble Political Ends Justify Abusive Means?
The Morning Consult reports on the subpoena that CEI recieved from Attorney General Claude Walker. Starting in 2014, approximately 20 Democrat attorneys general,…
Blog
Issues to Watch in Next Week’s Clean Power Plan Oral Argument
Next week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral argument on EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP), which establishes first-ever carbon dioxide (CO2) emission…
Blog
Clean Power Plan Litigation: A Giant Ball of Uncertainties
Prognosticating judicial outcomes is a foolish endeavor in general, but trying to predict the fate of the Clean Power Plan in Article III courts is…
Washington Free Beacon
NY Attorney General Accused of Skirting Public Records Law
The Washington Free Beacon reports on CEI's lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from refusing to release documents related to the climate change investigations. …
Blog
New Study Finds Ethanol More Carbon Intensive than Gasoline
A University of Michigan study published in the journal Climatic Change challenges a fundamental assumption of the life cycle analyses underpinning the EPA’s Renewable Fuel…
Daily Caller
Britain’s Plan To Save Energy By Paying Businesses To Shut Down Falls Apart
The Daily Caller quotes Myron Ebell on Britain's gid operators' decision to pay for "negative electricity" when there isn't enough power to meet demand. …
U.S. News & World Report
SolarCity Announces Layoffs, Co-Founders Take Massive Salary Cuts
U.S. News & World Report discusses SolarCity's announcment of major layoffs with Myron Ebell. "It looks like its further confirmation, despite massive federal and…
Daily Caller
Wind Industry Furious That Wyoming Is Taxing Wind Turbines
The Daily Caller discusses Wyoming's plan to raise taxes on a wind power project with Myron Ebell. Construction on thePower Company of Wyoming’s…
Blog
Trump Presents Energy Policy Ideas in Detroit
In a policy speech yesterday in Detroit, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump outlined his program of tax, regulatory, and trade policies to jump-start the economy.
Blog
Olympic Ceremony an Example of Cheap Talk on Global Warming
“Doing something” about global warming is hard and requires economic sacrifice.
Blog
Does EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
A new University of Minnesota study finds that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) program leads to net increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Blog
EPA’s Missed Deadlines Causing Widespread Dysfunction
Yesterday I published a study that reviews EPA’s performance for more than 1,000 Clean Air Act deadlines. Here’s the big takeaway: the agency missed 84…
E&E News
Foes of climate rule find new weapon in EPA mine case
E&E News reports on CEI's arguments against the legality of the Enviornmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. A federal court should take into…
Blog
Democrats’ Platform: Surmount Climate Challenge with Good-Paying Jobs, Low-Cost Clean Energy
The Democratic Party officially adopted their 2016 platform at their national convention in Philadelphia on 25th July. The energy and environment section is titled, “Combat…
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
Patricia Patnode
Research Fellow
- Consumer Freedom
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government