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
Op-Eds
Toxic Revenge
A $27 billion lawsuit brought by an Ecuadorian attorney against Chevron-Texaco blames the oil company for crude spills that have polluted Ecuador’s formerly pristine…
Newsletter
Big Labor in Congress, Private Conservation and White House Science Policy
Potentially dramatic changes in U.S. labor law make their way through the legislative process. Efforts to eliminate E. coli contamination on farms leads to unintended…
Blog
E. coli Happens
This story in the San Francisco Chronicle just shows the insanity of the conventional wisdom these days advanced by greens and anti-corporate farmers. They…
Blog
Rep. McClintock and “California’s Meltdown”
CEI and the Pacific Research Institute recently co-hosted a Capitol Hill briefing on “California’s Meltdown” – the unprecedented combination of flawed economic, energy…
Newsletter
Paulson’s Testimony, Ken Burns on National Parks and Obama’s Surgeon General Nominee
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testifies before the House Government Reform Committee on his handling of the banking crisis. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns announces his…
Blog
Regulation of the Day: Endangered Snails
The sixteenth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state. Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from…
Blog
America’s Worst Idea?
I’m very sorry to see that Ken Burns’ new film series is to be entitled The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. As I detail…
Newsletter
White House Science Czar, Catfish Imports and Gingrich’s “Real” Stimulus
Critics question the controversial beliefs of White House science adviser John Holdren. U.S. catfish producers try to block inexpensive fish imports from Vietnam. Former House…
Blog
Harsanyi on Holdren
Today, Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi shines a light on Obama “science czar” John Holdren’s disturbing past pronouncements — which Marc Scribner wrote…
Blog
Fishy Politics May Harm US Consumers
The various US attempts to hobble the Vietnamese farmed-catfish industry is no less underhanded. And, in order to prevent a trade war with Vietnam, it…
Blog
Obama’s Anti-Science Czar
Last week, Michelle Malkin posted on the disturbing past of Obama’s Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House…
Op-Eds
Peak Oil, Peak Water?
Watering the lawn in the summer can be expensive. And that might be a good reason to consider alternative landscaping. But it you…
Blog
Regulation of the Day: The Price of Shrimp
The ITA has been upset for some time that a Thai shrimp exporter is selling shrimp cheaply; hungry consumers have had no complaints.
Blog
UnderMining Prosperity
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p691OaOKUE8 285 234]…
Newsletter
Burning Rivers, Broadband Price Controls and Beach House Bailouts
Residents of Cleveland observe the 40th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire. Congress considers a bill to regulate the pricing of broadband Internet service.
News Release
On 40th Anniversary of Cuyahoga Fire, Myths Loom Larger Than Reality
Today is the 40th Anniversary of the famous Cuyahoga river fire in Cleveland, Ohio. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is celebrating the anniversary, because it…
Blog
Senators Act on Clean Water Restoration Act
Yesterday, in a mere one hour and seventeen minutes, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sailed through S. 787—the Clean Water Restoration Act…
Blog
Misinformation Won’t Save Species
If we want to help save species, we need to start getting the facts right about what problems we need to address. Unfortunately, the press…
Newsletter
Broadband Stimulus, Fiat Takes Over Chrysler and the UN’s World Oceans Day
Business and advocacy groups flood the Federal Communications Commission with comments on the agency’s proposed national broadband plan. Italian automaker Fiat…
News Release
New Ideas for World Oceans Day
This week the United Nations is observing World Oceans Day. The Competitive Enterprise Institute believes this makes it an appropriate time to think about realistic…
Blog
Danson in the Dark
Actor and noted intellectual Ted Danson has a piece on CNN.com entitled "World's Biggest Fish Are Dying." To his credit, it is not about whales.
Newsletter
Windmills in Danger, Record Unemployment and Hurricane Season
A wind power development in Wyoming may be derailed by the Endangered Species Act. The unemployment rate rises to 9.4%. Residents in the southeastern U.S.
Blog
Green Power Collides with Endangered Species
The greens are getting a taste of their own medicine. For years, they have used the Endangered Species Act to regulate use of private and…
Blog
Save the Economy, Save the Environment
Whole Foods profit has fallen 32 percent, reflecting changes in consumer demand during economic hard times. It appears that organic food becomes a luxury…
Newsletter
Chrysler’s Future, Chevron in Ecuador and Flex-Fuel Cars on the Road
A bankruptcy judge approves Chrysler’s request to start spending $4.5 billion in government loans. Ecuador sues Chevron for $27 billion over alleged environmental damage from…
Blog
David, Goliath and Chevron
How is little Ecuador going to collect from big Chevron? In 2007, investigative reporter Greg Palast posed the question to Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa regarding…
Newsletter
Healthy Eating, Big Labor Fights Itself and the War on Mining
A new Food and Drug Administration study sparks debate over the health benefits of eating fish. Factions of the labor union known as UNITE-HERE fight…
Newsletter
Celebrating Earth Day, the FDA Drags Its Feet and Health Scares Debunked
CEI releases a new video titled “Humans Make Earth Day Better.” Promising anti-cancer drug Provenge languishes in the federal approval process despite mounting evidence of…
Op-Eds
The war on mining: Fighting back
Gold has become a safe haven as jittery investors move away from weakened stock markets, and currencies are threatened by inflation. But the allure of…
Michelle Malkin
Humans make Earth Day better
Blog
People Make Earth Day Better
This year, we at the Competitive Enterprise Institute are suggesting that those who will be celebrating Earth Day remember the challenges presented by living in…
Blog
Kids Know a Bucket of S**t When They See One
I’ve always been a fan of Lewis Black’s take on things, even when it’s obvious we disagree politically, but this take on the way TV…
Blog
Between the Headlines:”Sustainability” Means Sustainably Poor
“Mars Sets Goal for Sustainable Cocoa Sources” Another Washington Post story suggests that “sustainability” –whatever it may mean — still can…
News Release
VIDEO: People Make Earth Day Better
This year, the Competitive Enterprise Institute urges those celebrating Earth Day to remember the challenges presented by living in the natural world, and the inspiring ways that human…
Michelle Malkin
An Activist Tea Party to Reverse Founding Principles
When activist groups recently held a “reverse tea party”—dumping bottled water into the Boston Harbor—their goal was not to dilute the harbor.
Blog
Trojan Horse “Food Safety” Law
A misguided bill, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, may shut down farmer’s markets and “drive out of business local farmers and artisanal,…
Blog
One Down, Six to Go!
Oh the Worries of Our Modern Malthusians! In Washington this week, the Anarctica and Arctic Councils met for…
Newsletter
Green Tariffs, Foreign Aid and The End of Environmentalism
India warns the U.S. and EU not to enact “green” tariffs on products that create carbon dioxide emissions. President Obama’s foreign aid policy receives criticism…
Blog
Rise of the Luddites
When it comes to things such as environmental policy, the Progressives have been rather successful at promoting their world view. They realized that it would…
Michelle Malkin
Learning From Cameron’s Mistake
Learning from Cameron’s Mistake Embracing trendy green policies did not help the British Tories. By Iain Murray & Matthew Sinclair…
Blog
Bad News: Scientists Make Cheap Gas from Coal
This funny headline is the title of a column in the March 26 issue of Wired Science. “Scientists have devised a new way to…
Blog
Post-Modern Food Fetish
There’s very little that’s romantic about keeping a big backyard garden, and less still about the actual practice of producing meaningful amounts of food. But,…
Newsletter
Toxic Assets, NIMBYs and Fish Pedicures
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveils a plan to sell off “toxic assets” as part of the federal bank bailout. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches…
Letters
Bipartisan Civil Liberties Coalition Letter Against New Federal Crimes in Omnibus Land Managment Bill
Dear Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader Boehner, Our respective organizations have diverse viewpoints, but we share a deep and abiding belief in due…
Blog
Human Achievement Hour
This week CEI announced the creation of Human Achievement Hour (HAH) to be celebrated at 8:30pm on March 28th 2009 (the same time and…
Blog
Alarmists turn blind eye to global warming benefits–again
Tomorrow, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the national security threats from melting Arctic ice. Greenwire (subscription required), the Online environmental news…
Michelle Malkin
Silvia’s Ecuador Trip Diary: Entry Two
The conference began with remarks from Gustavo Pinto, president of the Geologists Association, who commented on the need to develop mining in mineral-rich Ecuador,…
Newsletter
Stocks Rise, Fossil Felonies and Reforming Online Gambling
Stock values make their biggest one-day gains since last November. Congress considers a land management bill that could punish paleontologists and rock collectors with arrest…
Blog
Ironic Snowfall for Resource-Rich Greenies
Environmentalists characterize themselves as petite Davids battling gargantuan corporate Goliaths in order to grab media attention. But hundreds of green activists demonstrated today to raise…
Newsletter
Toilet Papers Wars, New Powers for the EPA and Bottled Water Hypocrisy
Environmental groups attack the use of soft, comfortable toilet paper. President Obama proposes a 34% increase in the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. Cities…
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