Since our founding in 1984, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has sought to reform and reduce environmental regulation of land, shrink the federal estate, and unlock federal lands for private ownership.
Featured Posts
Capitol Matters
Biting the Science That Feeds Us: The War against Fertilizers
Advocates of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement urge shareholders and corporations to look beyond the bottom line toward a better…
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Iowa permit reforms can be a national model
Iowa may be known for its fields of corn and soybeans, but it should also be recognized for something less visible yet just as significant:…
News Release
Report shines light on Arizona’s positive permitting reforms
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report highlights the positives of Arizona’s environmental permitting system. Under the leadership of Gov. Katie Hobbs and former Gov.
Search Posts
Capitol Matters
Biting the Science That Feeds Us: The War against Fertilizers
Advocates of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement urge shareholders and corporations to look beyond the bottom line toward a better…
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Iowa permit reforms can be a national model
Iowa may be known for its fields of corn and soybeans, but it should also be recognized for something less visible yet just as significant:…
News Release
Report shines light on Arizona’s positive permitting reforms
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report highlights the positives of Arizona’s environmental permitting system. Under the leadership of Gov. Katie Hobbs and former Gov.
Study
Boosting Business in the Desert
Recent permitting reforms in Arizona have focused on streamlining regulatory processes to improve the state’s business climate. Developments include passage of the 2023 Permit Freedom…
Comment
CEI’s comment on Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets
Dear Mr. Offutt: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, we respectfully submit these comments to the Department of Agriculture (“the Department”) on its proposed…
Study
Empire State of Mind
Executive Summary New York State’s environmental permitting procedures represent a mixed bag. On the one hand, the Uniform Procedures Act (UPA), signed into law in…
USDA
USDA COULD BE IMPACTED BY PROJECT 2025
USDA cites Daren Bakst on Project 2025: The chapter, written by former Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Policy and Regulation, Center for Energy, Climate…
Investigate Midwest
Farm programs, USDA would shrink under Project 2025 goals for ag
Investigate Midwest cites Daren Bakst on Project 2025: So, what about the author? Daren Bakst wrote the agriculture chapter in Project 2025. He is now…
News Release
Report evaluates Colorado’s environmental permitting process
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a new report examining environmental permitting in Colorado, the latest in a series of reports on this topic. “Colorado…
Study
Distilling Efficiency
Colorado has made notable efforts to streamline its environmental permitting processes over the past few decades through initiatives like the Colorado Joint Review Process (CJRP),…
Study
Transparency on Tap
The Commonwealth of Virginia has been implementing a Virginia Permit Transparency (VPT) initiative over the last several years, which includes an online permitting portal designed…
Blog
The vital role of private conservation: A different perspective on Earth Day
Amidst the jubilation over government-led environmental initiatives on yet another Earth Day yesterday, it’s crucial to highlight a perspective too often overlooked: private conservation, rather…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Trademark fees and threatened sloths
A cargo ship struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman died at age 90.
Blog
One way for government to improve air quality: Remove obstacles to prescribed fires
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule on particulate matter prematurely makes the primary annual standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) much…
Blog
The Surge: New EPA rulemaking, Biden’s LNG ‘pause,’ 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…
Blog
EPA’s Scientific Integrity Policy is unscientific, lacks integrity
The Environmental Protection Agency recently released a draft update to its “Scientific Integrity Policy,” which aims to ensure the agency’s science-based decisions and…
Comment
Comment to FAST-41 Steering Council on reducing scope of mining industry
John G. CossaGeneral CounselFederal Permitting Improvement Steering Council1800 M St. NW, Suite 6006Washington, DC 20036 Submitted via Regulations.gov November 22, 2023 RE: Permitting Council Docket…
Blog
Biden’s war on energy continues with unprecedented restrictions on offshore oil and gas lease sales
Today, the Interior Department (DOI) released its five-year plan (2024-2029) for offshore oil and gas lease sales. In a press release, the agency…
Blog
Biden admin blocks oil and gas leases in Alaska, hurting Alaskans and all Americans
The Biden administration took two aggressive steps in its war on energy last week. The US Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the cancellation…
Blog
EPA won’t rush ozone decision. Good. Now do the same for particulate matter.
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put an end to the possibility that it would soon revise the existing ozone standards. This was…
Study
Permitting reforms, finally
Introduction The United States has one of the world’s most burdensome, time-consuming, and unpredictable systems for authorizing major infrastructure projects. The centerpiece of that system…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: electric motors and small business loans
Congress and President Biden reached a debt ceiling deal. Texas attorney general and antitrust hawk Ken Paxton was impeached. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Blog
The week in ridiculous regulations: Oklahoma emissions and Big Creek crayfish
GDP grew by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023. Cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were both fired. Meanwhile, agencies…
News Release
Bipartisan Majority of U.S. Senate Rejects Biden Administration Overreach on Waters of the US Rule
The U.S. Senate passed a resolution under the Congressional Review Act rejecting the Biden Administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. The rule would…
Wall Street Journal
Save the Carbon-Consuming Whales
The Wall Street Journal cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on the lobster industry: Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute opines in the…
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…
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…
Inside Sources
Wind Energy Company Sentenced for Killing Endangered Eagles — Without a Permit
Inside Sources cites Director of the Center for Energy and the Environment Myron Ebell on the negative effects of the wind energy on birds:…
News Release
New CEI Paper Highlights Facts about Plastics in the Ocean an Offers Workable Solutions to the Problem
WASHINGTON – In a new paper released today, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) senior fellow Angela Logomasini, PhD argues legislation pending before Congress…
Study
Ban Overboard: Exploring Solutions to Ocean Pollution
Heartbreaking photos and videos of wildlife harmed by plastics litter have rightly raised public concerns about plastics in the ocean. In response, state and local…
Inside Sources
If You Care about Wildlife, Oppose Plastics Bans
Ask an environmentalist how to stop plastics litter and ocean pollution and you’ll likely get a litany of proposed regulations and bans on plastic straws…
News Release
New CEI Paper Highlights the Risks Banning Plastics Poses to Humanity
WASHINGTON – In a new paper released today, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) senior fellow Angela Logomasini, PhD argues destroying the U.S. plastics industry,…
Breitbart
‘Eco-Imperialists’ Preventing Forest Management Lead to Wildfires, Not Climate Change
Breitbart cites Director of the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on current U.S. wildfires: “The basic problem with our national…
Fox News
How Federal Regulation, not Climate Change, Explains California’s Wildfire Crisis: Experts
Fox News cites Director for the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on California’s wildfire crisis: “The problem is not global…
Blog
Deep Dive on Plastics: CEI Launches Series on Benefits to Mankind and Wildlife
Members of Congress have introduced several proposals to regulate plastics, which as I noted here and here, could basically destroy the U.S. plastics…
Blog
Some Good News on Forest Management
After a grueling deliberative process, the Senate passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has threatened to…
Blog
Better Forest Management Needs a New Approach
The rampant wildfires in the west continue to exacerbate and conditions are likely to get worse before they get better. More than 4 percent…
Blog
Private Forest Management Can Help Prevent Wildfires
When California Governor Gavin Newsom took office in 2019 he vowed to commit a stronger strategy to combat the wildfires ravaging California, declaring their approach…
Blog
How Private Property Can Protect Rivers From Pollution
Many prominent environmental activists, such as teen media star Greta Thunberg and former Vice President Al Gore, raise various environmental concerns from climate change…
News Release
CEI Opposes Haaland Confirmation Based on House Record Hostile to Property Rights and Resource Development on Federal Lands
WASHINGTON, DC – President Biden’s nominee to be Secretary of the Interior Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) answered questions before a Senate committee ahead of a…
News Release
Trump Administration Denies Alaska Pebble Mine Permit, Denying Economic Opportunity to the State and the Nation
The Trump administration, via the Army Corps of Engineers, today denied a permit to the Pebble Mine in Alaska, to the great detriment of economic…
The Press of Atlantic City
Man-made Policies, Not Man-Made Climate Change, Fueling Wildfires, Says Myron Ebell
The catastrophic wildfires raging up and down the West Coast should force a radical reversal of 30 years of disastrous government policies. Instead, the politicians…
Blog
Thirteen Years and Counting: Idaho Case Illustrates How Regulatory Enforcement Can Go Awry
In 2007, Mike and Chantell Sackett broke ground on a lot near scenic Priest Lake, Idaho, where they planned to build their dream home. It…
Blog
A Discussion on Saving Bluebirds through Private Conservation, and a Tribute to Andy Thompson
The following interview of CEI Senior Fellow R.J. Smith was inspired with the encouragement of former CEI staff member Andy Thompson, who passed away recently.
Letters
Coalition Letter to the Senate Opposing the LWCF Title in S. 3422
Dear Senators: The undersigned organizations and individuals write to express and explain our opposition to legislation that would mandate massive increases in funding for federal…
Blog
The Man Who Fed the World, And the Film that Condemned Him for It
The first indication that PBS’s new documentary on agronomist Norman Borlaug will not be overly laudatory is its title. Anti-hunger activist Leon Hesser called his…
Blog
Luddites, not Almond Milk, Pose Biggest Risk to Honeybees
A recent story in the Guardian alleges that almond growers are somehow uniquely responsible for substantial losses of honeybee hives, and that may eventually lead…
Blog
Department of Justice Wrong to Block Sabre Acquisition of Farelogix
On January 27th, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) will attempt to block travel technology company Sabre Corporation from purchasing communications protocol innovator Farelogix, Inc. This will be the…
Blog
Lawmakers’ Fatal Conceit on Recycling Should Be Trashed
“The more things change, the more they stay the same” is a wise observation, and it’s particularly true in politics. I’ve been following solid waste…
The Daily Signal
Western Lawmakers Prepare Bills to Modernize Endangered Species Act
The Daily Signal cites Director of the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on the Endangered Species Act: Myron Ebell, director of the…
News Release
WOTUS Rule Repeal Great News for Rural Americans
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the repeal of the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. EPA is expected to announce…
News Release
CEI Applauds EPA Decision to Withdraw Preemptive Veto of Pebble Mine Project
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it intends to withdraw the Obama Administration's preemptive rejection of the Pebble Mine project in Alaska and…
News Release
House Should Reject Bill to Remove Land and Water Conservation Fund from Appropriations Process
The House Natural Resources committee is scheduled to markup H.R. 3195 on Wednesday, June 19. The bill would turn the Land and Water Conservation Fund…
News Release
House Members Should Vote No on Amendment to Block Pebble Mine Project
The House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as tomorrow on the Huffman Amendment to H.R. 2740 (amendment 63 to Division E of…
Comment
Letter to EPA Administrator Wheeler on Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment
Letter in PDF March 20, 2019 Andrew Wheeler Administrator United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Re: Request for…
Blog
Appalachian Trail Should Not Block New Energy Development
The Department of Justice is pushing back against a federal court decision that could jeopardize the future availability and affordability of natural gas across America’s…
Stateline
Logging, Money Battles Delay Wildfire Prevention Work
Pew Trusts cited Distinguished Fellow RJ Smith on U.S. Forest Service funding: Some conservative experts disagree that funding is a major problem for federal…
Products
Free to Prosper: Private and Public Lands
View the full chapter on private and public lands here Private property and secure property rights are essential conditions of freedom and prosperity. Contrary…
Blog
Supreme Court Ruling Puts Important Limits on Federal Authority under Endangered Species Act
On November 27, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously, in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that there are limits to how far the federal…
Blog
CEI Challenges Federal Rejection of Alaska’s Pebble Mine
Most job-creating projects don’t require government subsidies―the only thing private sector builders need is less federal red tape getting in their way. A good case…
Blog
Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Prevent Damage from Renewable Fuel Standard
EarthJustice, the National Wildlife Federation, and other environmental pressure groups have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to better police the land use requirements in…
Blog
How to Articulate a Free-Market Vision for the Future
The Competitive Enterprise Institute views most market failure rationales for government intervention as wrong, overstated, or unproven (or all of the above). The Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Comment
CEI Comments on Revision of the Regulations for Listing Species and Designating Critical Habitat
The Endangered Species Act has proven bad for wildlife because it is bad for people. The Act’s legislative language as passed by Congress is largely…
Comment
CEI Comments on ESA Proposed Revisions of the Regulations for Prohibitions to Threatened Wildlife and Plants
The Endangered Species Act has proven bad for wildlife because it is bad for people. The Act’s legislative language as passed by Congress is largely…
Blog
Energy Dominance: Department of Interior Breaks Previous Records for Oil and Gas Lease Sales
“In a testament to the Trump Administration's America First Energy Plan, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) third-quarter oil and gas lease sale in New…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing Environmental Protection Agency Veto Power over Development Projects
In 2013, organizations from coast-to-coast called on then-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to reject an unprecedented decision on Pebble Mine and warned…
Blog
Reform Federal Process for Environmental Permits
The Trump administration has initiated several steps to streamline the federal permitting process for major projects, including resource extraction and infrastructure. In particular, it has focused…
Blog
Reform Endangered Species Act to Contain Costs
The Endangered Species Act (ESA), passed in 1973, has had several decades to accumulate a record of costs and benefits. Despite bureaucrats and activists…
Blog
Claim that 99% of Species Are Saved by ESA Not Supported by Data
An urgent fundraising appeal from The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) “Global Policy Lead[er]” warns of congressional and administration efforts to change—and from the perspective of many—improve…
The Hill
Wildlife has little to show for staggering cost of Endangered Species Act
The Department of the Interior recently proposed significant changes to the rules implementing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). As welcome as these changes…
Blog
Four Reasons the Endangered Species Act Desperately Needs Reform
The Department of Interior recently announced proposed revisions to enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These revisions are designed to lessen the regulatory…
Los Angeles Times
Threatened Species Could Lose Habitat Protections Under Department of the Interior Proposal
The Los Angeles Times cited CEI’s Rob Gordon on the Endangered Species Act. Rob Gordon, a spokesman for the free market think tank Competitive…
News Release
CEI Praises Dept of Interior’s Proposed Changes to Endangered Species Act Regulations
This week, the Department of Interior announced proposed revisions to portions of the regulations that implement sections of the Endangered Species Act.
News Release
CEI Applauds President Trump’s Pardon of Dwight and Steve Hammond
Today, President Trump announced the pardon of Dwight and Steve Hammond, two ranchers from Eastern Oregon who were prosecuted under the Antiterrorism Act of 1996…
Blog
Reforming ‘Waters of the United States’ Critical for Economic Growth
The Waters of the United States rule vastly expanded government control over land in America and is one of the prime examples of the…
Comment
Testimony of Myron Ebell on The Enhancing State Management of Federal Lands and Waters Act
View Full Document as PDF Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Lowenthal, and members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me to testify today…
4-traders
More than 50 Members, Stakeholders Call on Admin to Scrap Obama Mineral Withdrawals
4-traders cited the work of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in pressing reviews of Obama-era mineral withdrawals which were implemented without due consideration for the local…
The Hill
‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Is Back in Trump Era
The Department of the Interior on Jan. 4 released the draft of an Outer Continental Shelf oil and natural gas leasing plan that would dramatically…
Blog
Department of Interior Announces Ambitious New Offshore Oil Plan
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has announced an ambitious new oil and gas leasing plan for the federal Outer Continental Shelf.
The Daily Caller
With the Stroke of a Pen, Trump Claims Victory in the Decades-Long Battle Over ANWR
The Daily Caller covers the ANWR provision of the tax reform bill. President Donald Trump signed tax reform legislation that also ends the battle…
Blog
A Banner Year for Deregulation on Energy, Climate, and Environment
2017 has been a banner year for advancing free market policies across the board on energy, climate, and environmental issues.
Blog
President Trump Should Defend Federal Land Use and End Abuse of Antiquities Act
Misuse of the Antiquities Act by radical environmental pressure groups and compliant presidents circumvents the constitutional authority of Congress…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Supporting Review of National Monuments Under the Antiquities Act
View Full Document as PDF Dear Mr. President, As leaders of grassroots, legal, and public policy organizations throughout the United States, we…
Blog
Former U.K. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson Outlines the Environmental Benefits of Brexit
On October 4, 2017, Owen Paterson MP, who until 2014 was the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, visited…
Blog
Common Sense Trumps Absurd Bottled Water Ban
Cheers to the Trump Administration for taking this common sense stand on bottled water in national parks.
Blog
New Film ‘Food Evolution’ Confronts Confusion on GMO Crops
Genetic modification of food crops is a valuable scientific process that has already helped feed countless millions of people around the world and provided breathtaking humanitarian…
Blog
Smart Move to Repeal Department of Interior ‘Valuation Rule’ on Minerals
The repeal ensures that coal leasing and sales can continue while the agency develops and adopts a new rule informed by public comment.
News Release
CEI Supports Reducing Federal Lands for National Monuments, Returning Lands to Private Ownership
Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment, responded to the Interior Department’s assessment of the use of federal land as…
Blog
NYT Pesticide Exposé Only Exposes Foolish Reporting
EPA decision not to ban chlorpyrifos was based on sound science.
Blog
Environmental Activists Continue to ‘Bee’ Wrong about Honeybee Health Challenges
Lawmakers need to start ignoring the environmentalist hype and let bee keepers continue to resolve environmental health challenges.
Blog
New Study Shows Minimal Pesticide Impact on Bees
95 percent of the time there were no detectable levels of neonics in hives or pollen from. This indicates a very minimal exposures, which should…
News Release
CEI Praises EPA Decision to Repeal Disastrous Waters of the U.S. Rule
This week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to repeal the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. This rule expanded federal oversight…
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
An Overdue Review of the Antiquated Antiquities Act
Kudos to President Trump for signing the Antiquities Act executive order today directing Interior Secretary Zinke to undertake the long overdue review of the misuses and…
News Release
CEI Applauds Trump Executive Order To Counter Massive Land Grabs
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday directing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review the designation of dozens of national monuments on federal lands. The…
Blog
Free the Fishermen: Cause of Action Defends Small Business at Sea
Cause of Action is defending New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel, and others like him, from extraordinarily expensive government regulations.
Blog
Struggling Fishermen Sue over Cost of Harvest Monitoring
It can be difficult to make one’s living off of the land – or the sea – these days. Federal and state regulations on natural resource…
Blog
Endangered Species Bee Listing Could Harm Bees, Butterflies, other Pollinators
In the interest of both pollinators and landowners, the incoming Trump Administration needs to advocate and pass serious reforms to the Endangered Species Act.
Blog
Obama’s National Monument Designation: Second-Term Environmental Policymaking at Its Worst
It is outrageous that President Obama, on the way out the door, would try to irrevocably federalize 1.3 million acres in the state, in spite…
Blog
Property Rights Are the Key to Protecting Land
We often hear that only government can protect the environment through outright land ownership or heavy regulatory control of private land.
Staff & Scholars
Daren Bakst
Director of the Center for Energy and Environment and Senior Fellow
- Energy and Environment
- Lands and Wildlife
- Property Rights
Angela Logomasini
Adjunct Fellow
- Chemical Risk
- Consumer Freedom
- Energy and Environment
Patricia Patnode
Research Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government