Competitive Enterprise Institute

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QUESTIONABLE SOURCE

Detailed Report

Reasoning: Far Right Bias, Propaganda, Poor Sourcing, Lack of Transparency, Rejection of Scientific Consensus
Country: USA
World Press Freedom Rank: USA 45/180

History

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit, libertarian think tank in the United States. Founded by Fred L. Smith, Jr., on March 9, 1984, in Washington, D.C., it seeks to advance economic liberty by fighting excessive government regulation because it believes that a free marketplace that allows entrepreneurship and innovation to thrive is better policy. The current President and CEO is Kent Lassman.

Read our profile on United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a nonprofit that is funded through donations. Up until 2006, Exxon-Mobil donated 2 million dollars to the CEI. The CEI does not disclose donors, however, they are funded heavily by the Bradley Foundation and the Koch Family as well as numerous gas/oil companies such as Amoco and Texaco. 

Analysis / Bias

In review, the CEI promotes environmental policies based on limited government regulation and property rights and rejects what they call “global warming alarmism”. Headlines and articles typically contain emotionally loaded language that favors the right such as this Wrong Again: 50 Years of Failed Eco-pocalyptic Predictions. This story comes from the questionable climate change denial website RealClimateScience. When not promoting climate change pseudoscience, they advocate for Libertarian positions such as small government and property rights. 

Editorially, the primary purpose of the CEI is to mislead on climate change. They have been criticized by scientists for publishing misleading information such as this: Scientist to CEI: You Used My Research To “Confuse and Mislead”. According to Ballotpedia, the “CEI believes that scientific consensus on climate change and global warming were politically rather than scientifically motivated.” Finally, the CEI has a long history of lobbying for the tobacco industry and since 2011 has advocated for the e-cigarette industry.

Overall, we rate the Competitive Enterprise Institute Questionable based on far-right bias, promotion of propaganda, use of poor sources, lack of transparency with funding, and a general rejection of scientific consensus. (D. Van Zandt 7/12/2016) Updated (9/21/2019)

Source: https://cei.org/