The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), founded in 1984, is a conservative advocacy group for free enterprise and limited government. They are a think tank that uses what some call “sound science” to dispute the scientific evidence of human induced climate change. The CEI collaborates with various conservative groups, including the Koch Foundation.
Climate Change
The Competitive Enterprise Institute paints climate change as a political matter that is being used to expand government control. The CEI’s website states “the climate catastrophe narrative is based on global climate models that inflate greenhouse gas emission scenarios and have been falsified by the past four decades of temperature data. The real costs of proposed solutions to the alleged crisis hugely exceed their hypothetical benefits.” They claim that “climate change does not endanger the survival of civilization or the habitability of the planet,” and so-called climate solutions are power grabs.
In 2006, the CEI released a television advertisement stating that carbon dioxide is “essential to life. We breathe it out. Plants breathe it in… they call it pollution. We call it life.” They released a second advertisement falsely claiming that glaciers are “growing, not melting… getting thicker, not thinner.” A large number of CEI’s experts have been linked to ExxonMobil, the Heritage Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, and the Koch Foundation.
In 1992, founder Fred Smith stated, “most of the indications right now are that it looks pretty good. Warmer winters, warmer nights, no effects during the day because of clouding, sounds to me like we’re moving to a more benign planet, more rain, richer, easier productivity to agriculture.”
According to the CEI website, “CEI‘s largest program takes on all the hard energy and climate issues. CEI questions global warming alarmism, makes the case for access to affordable energy, and opposes energy-rationing policies, including the Kyoto Protocol, cap-and-trade legislation, and EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. CEI also opposes all government mandates and subsidies for conventional and alternative energy technologies.”
Outreach
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s main method of outreach is through blog posts, op-eds, and news articles on their website. They create policy papers, write coalition letters, testify at government meetings, lobby, and direct interaction with legislatures and press. The CEI regularly files lawsuits against environmentalist groups and advocates. They have held various summits, galas, and dinners to push for climate denial legislation, policies, and programs.
Funding
The Competitive Enterprise Institute does not disclose its donors, but the Koch Foundation, Google, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, and other corporations have been linked as donors. The CEI has received $4,296,645 in 123 grants from 1985-2004. The CEI has received at least $838,259 from Koch-related foundations since 1977 and $100,000 from David Koch in 2009.
Ties to the Arctic
In 2006 the Competitive Enterprise Institute was accused of misrepresenting Brooks Hanson’s research on Greenland’s ice sheet. The CEI used selective referencing to mislead the audience into believing that Greenland’s ice sheet is expanding.
The CEI is currently trying to pass the POWER act in response to Biden suspending oil, gas, and mining leases on federal lands. The CEI is challenging Biden’s decision claiming that wildlife would not be distrubed, and ignoring other environmental impacts.
Friends of the Competitive Enterprise Institute
Bradley Foundation
Koch Foundation.
Climate of Denial