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
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…
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…
Search Posts
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…
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
- Consumer Freedom
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government