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
Fly the (climate) friendly skies? Delta is having second thoughts
Delta Air Lines has quietly backed away from its pledge to use 10 percent sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) by 2030, citing the lack…
Blog
When solar tax incentives overheated, the residential solar market became scorched
Residential solar has long been sold as a win-win for consumers and the environment. It was marketed as an affordable way for homeowners to reduce…
Real Clear Energy
Quibbling Over Carbon Metrics: Senator Cramer’s Ill-Advised, Unauthorized Carbon Tax Trojan Horse
The U.S. may stumble into a carbon taxed future due to a provision furtively inserted into the House committee report accompanying the energy and water…
Search Posts
Blog
Report highlights the environmental costs of wind and solar
A Center of the American Experiment report, authored by Sarah Montalbano, explores the environmental costs of wind, solar, and battery storage technologies. These “green”…
Independent Institute
Report Highlights the Environmental Costs of Wind and Solar
A Center of the American Experiment, authored by Sarah Montalbano, explores the environmental costs of wind, solar, and battery storage technologies. These “green” technologies are…
Comment
CEI Comments on EPA Proposed Rule “Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards”
Dear Mr. Stout: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we appreciate this opportunity to provide comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed…
Blog
House subcommittee to discuss important Clean Air Act bills
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment will be holding a hearing today entitled “From Gridlock to Growth: Permitting Reform Under the…
Center Square Opinion
Op-Ed: Lawmakers deserve credit for recent success against the Green New Deal
Lawmakers took a significant step toward ending the Green New Deal. In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), they started to dismantle the radical…
Comment
CEI Comments on the Department of Energy’s Report A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate
Dear Mr. Loucks, On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully submit these comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) July 29, 2025,…
Comment
CEI comments on National Academies report on greenhouse gas emissions
Dear Ms. Staudt: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I appreciate this opportunity to provide comments regarding the National Academies’ fast-track study that “will…
Wall Street Journal
How to Beat the High Cost of Cooling
President Trump doesn’t hide his dislike of federal appliance regulations, from water-stingy shower heads that he says make it difficult “to take care of my…
Blog
Power plant greenhouse gas emissions don’t contribute significantly to ‘dangerous air pollution’
CEI recently submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Proposed Rule to repeal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for fossil fuel power…
Comment
CEI Comments on Proposed Environmental Protection Agency Rule Repealing 2024 Mercury Provisions for Coal-Fired Power Plants
August 11, 2025 Environmental Protection Agency: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units Notice…
Comment
CEI Comments on EPA’s Proposed Repeal of Powerplant Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards
Re: Docket No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2025–0124 Dear Ms. Thompson: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully submit these comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s…
Letters
Request for Revision of IRS Notices to Align with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and Executive Order 14315
Re: Request for Revision of IRS Notices related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Dear Secretary Bessent, We respectfully request that the Internal Revenue…
Comment
CEI and PLF comment on Implementation of Clean Water Act Section 401
Dear Ms. Kasparek: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Pacific Legal Foundation, I appreciate this opportunity to provide comments on the Environmental…
News Release
EPA proposes rule to overturn regulatory finding justifying major restrictions on consumer choice: CEI analysis
Today, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency’s proposed rule that would overturn the 2009 endangerment finding. For 16 years, this finding has been…
E&E News
EPA seeks to limit its power to curb climate pollution
“There is a compelling argument that the major questions doctrine by itself would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases,” said Daren Bakst, director of…
Blog
Congress should recognize the importance of prescribed burns
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major air pollutants:…
Blog
Dispelling the desperate myths on IRA subsidies for wind and solar
The budget reconciliation process continues, as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just passed the Senate and is headed back to the House. …
Blog
Regulatory hurdles could jeopardize growth of nuclear energy
Since the late 1800s, fossil fuels have been the energy source of the highest economic utility in driving innovation and prosperity.
News Release
CEI releases new report detailing how states are improving environmental permitting policies
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report detailing how states across the country are improving their environmental permitting systems to become…
Study
Laboratories of Bureaucracy
Introduction The United States faces significant challenges in modernizing its infrastructure and meeting evolving energy needs. One of the obstacles is the complex and time-consuming…
Letters
CEI and AEA Letter to the Senate on Protecting IRA Subsidy Reform in Reconciliation
Dear Senator:In 2022, Democrats passed a radical plan to change how Americans use and consume energy. This plan was contained in the Inflation Reduction Act…
News Release
Senate poised to start undoing green subsidies in Big Beautiful Bill
The U.S. Senate will soon start debate on H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The latest version of this reconciliation bill includes many…
Blog
EPA Proposes to Repeal Biden Power Plant Rule
As demand for electricity continues to rise, a pragmatic energy policy wins out. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin just announced the proposed repeal of a Biden…
News Release
Report Urges Congress to End Boondoggle Green Subsidies Now
Congress has a golden opportunity now, during final negotiations over the budget, to wipe out green subsidies passed back in 2022 as part of the…
Blog
New CEI paper: End IRA Subsidies Now
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the flagship climate spending law from the Biden administration. Estimates place its cost between $936 billion and $1.97…
Study
End IRA Subsidies Now
Introduction “The first lesson of economics is scarcity,” wrote economist Thomas Sowell. By contrast, “The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson…
Blog
Are we losing the subsidized clean energy race to China? Let’s hope so
Do we need to retain the Green New Deal-style subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act or risk losing the clean energy race to China? Many…
Blog
45Q tax credit could help kill off power plants and reliable electricity
The 45Q tax credit serves as an incentive for power plants and industrial facilities to invest in carbon capture and sequestration/storage.The Inflation Reduction Act…
Fox News
Trump’s Energy Department is taking back our home appliances from berserk bureaucrats
In quite possibly the sharpest regulatory U-turn thus far in 2025, the Trump Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to roll back home appliance regulations…
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: Clean Power Plan repeal, CRA resolutions 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 and…
Blog
Trump, Congress overturn California’s gas-car ban
President Trump today signed three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to overturn Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers greenlighting California’s plans…
News Release
EPA’s decision to allow California to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 reversed after President Trump signs CRA resolution
California’s green light from the Environmental Protection Agency to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 was revoked after Congress passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA)…
Blog
New nuclear executive orders come at a time when power demand is rising
On Friday, May 23, President Trump signed four executive orders related to nuclear power. These lay the groundwork for reforming nuclear regulation and enabling nuclear power…
Blog
AI boom power surge: Plants revived, fossil fuels reconsidered
Rising power demand is causing retired power plants to be reopened and repurposed. Power demand in the United States was relatively stagnant for many years,…
News Release
CEI praises EPA Administrator for proposing the repeal of greenhouse gas rule and to amend mercury rule
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin today announced the forthcoming proposed repeal of the Biden era Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions…
Blog
Senate should reject lobbyist sales pitches for alternative energy subsidies
Lobbyists for the companies hoping to cash in on the many alternative energy subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are crying foul now…
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: Expert testimony, Spanish blackout, 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 and…
Blog
Eight energy policies that reduce competition and increase energy prices
The US Department of Justice’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force was accepting comments from the public in part “seeking information about laws and regulations that…
Blog
Congress needs to do more to address the IRA energy tax credits
Many of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit reforms that exist in the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act comes…
Blog
Spanish blackout should serve as a warning
If policymakers don’t want Americans to find themselves in the dark, then they should pay attention to the harmful electricity policies in Spain. Spain experienced…
Comment
CEI Comments to Department of Justice Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force
Dear Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force Members: We appreciate this opportunity to provide comments to the task force regarding anticompetitive laws and regulations. There is often…
News Release
CEI leads coalition backing Senate votes to rescind waivers allowing California to reshape car, truck industry
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today sent a letter to the Senate signed by a coalition of over 50 free market and conservative policy…
Letters
CEI leads coalition letter supporting Senate CRA votes against EPA California waivers
Dear Senator: The House recently passed, in a bipartisan manner, three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions rescinding Biden EPA waivers allowing California to reshape the…
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: CRA resolutions, IRA reform, 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 and…
News Release
DOE adopts CEI view on appliance water and energy limits
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released new rules on appliance energy and water limits Friday that agreed with the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI)…
Citation
GOP Ready Rollbacks of Biden’s ‘Efficiency’ Mandates For Home Appliances
MCRTV cited CEI’s expert on home appliances “Responding specifically to Trump’s executive action, Devin Watkins, attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), observed: ‘Federal…
Letters
Letter to Senate Regarding California Waiver CRA Resolutions
Dear Senator: The U.S. Senate has a unique opportunity to overturn what may well be the most egregious case of unlawful bureaucratic overreach of the…
Blog
CEI sends letter to Senate regarding California waiver CRA resolutions
The US Senate has a unique opportunity to overturn what may well be the most egregious case of unlawful bureaucratic overreach of the past 50…
News Release
Trump executive order restores consumer choice for home appliances
In 2018, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) petitioned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to adopt regulations allowing dishwashers that complete a full cycle…
Blog
Why IRA energy subsidies should be dismantled: A guide
This article is intended to be a useful resource about the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) energy subsidies and is broken into three sections: The first…
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
Jacob Tomasulo
Policy Analyst
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment