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Institute for Energy Research
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a Washington, D.C.–based non-profit organization that "conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets." IER maintains that the free market provides the most "efficient and effective solutions" to "global energy and environmental challenges".
IER is often described as a front group for the fossil fuel industry. It was initially formed by Charles Koch, receives donations from many large companies like Exxon, and publishes a stream of reports and position papers opposing any efforts to control greenhouse gases. Thomas Pyle, president of the IER and its offshoot American Energy Alliance (AEA), was appointed to the US Department of Energy's transition team after the 2016 United States elections.
The IER is the successor organization to the Institute for Humane Studies—Texas, a foundation established in 1984 by classical-liberalism advocate Greg Rehmke of the Institute for Humane Studies in Menlo Park, California, of which billionaire businessman and political donor Charles Koch was a director. After failing to pay the Texas state franchise tax, IHST lost its charter in 1989, and was later rebranded as the Institute for Energy Research, or IER, under the presidency of Robert L. Bradley Jr., the former director of public policy analysis for Enron.
IER began by distributing quarterly reports to a small but growing list of donors in the early 1990s and eventually expanded its publishing capabilities to include highly publicized studies. It was not until 2001 when Bradley secured funding to make IER a full-time organization. In 2007, IER was moved to Washington, D.C. where it transformed itself into an energy think tank producing research and analysis on global energy markets.
In 2009, an article in Mother Jones magazine said IER was among the most prominent organizations questioning the existence and extent of anthropogenic climate change.
In 2016, Thomas Pyle, president of IER and AEA, was appointed to the US Department of Energy's transition team after the 2016 United States elections. On 15 November, he delivered a memo entitled "What to Expect from the Trump Administration" which has been described as a "fossil fuel industry wish list". It called for withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement, overturning the Clean Power Plan, opening federal lands to exploitation for coal and oil development, and rolling back CAFE fuel economy standards.
IER is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025, a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.
The Institute's CEO and founder, Robert L. Bradley Jr., is a senior fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research and Energy & Climate Change Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He has written eight books, including Energy: The Master Resource; Climate Alarmism Reconsidered; and Edison to Enron.
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Institute for Energy Research
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a Washington, D.C.–based non-profit organization that "conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets." IER maintains that the free market provides the most "efficient and effective solutions" to "global energy and environmental challenges".
IER is often described as a front group for the fossil fuel industry. It was initially formed by Charles Koch, receives donations from many large companies like Exxon, and publishes a stream of reports and position papers opposing any efforts to control greenhouse gases. Thomas Pyle, president of the IER and its offshoot American Energy Alliance (AEA), was appointed to the US Department of Energy's transition team after the 2016 United States elections.
The IER is the successor organization to the Institute for Humane Studies—Texas, a foundation established in 1984 by classical-liberalism advocate Greg Rehmke of the Institute for Humane Studies in Menlo Park, California, of which billionaire businessman and political donor Charles Koch was a director. After failing to pay the Texas state franchise tax, IHST lost its charter in 1989, and was later rebranded as the Institute for Energy Research, or IER, under the presidency of Robert L. Bradley Jr., the former director of public policy analysis for Enron.
IER began by distributing quarterly reports to a small but growing list of donors in the early 1990s and eventually expanded its publishing capabilities to include highly publicized studies. It was not until 2001 when Bradley secured funding to make IER a full-time organization. In 2007, IER was moved to Washington, D.C. where it transformed itself into an energy think tank producing research and analysis on global energy markets.
In 2009, an article in Mother Jones magazine said IER was among the most prominent organizations questioning the existence and extent of anthropogenic climate change.
In 2016, Thomas Pyle, president of IER and AEA, was appointed to the US Department of Energy's transition team after the 2016 United States elections. On 15 November, he delivered a memo entitled "What to Expect from the Trump Administration" which has been described as a "fossil fuel industry wish list". It called for withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement, overturning the Clean Power Plan, opening federal lands to exploitation for coal and oil development, and rolling back CAFE fuel economy standards.
IER is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025, a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.
The Institute's CEO and founder, Robert L. Bradley Jr., is a senior fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research and Energy & Climate Change Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He has written eight books, including Energy: The Master Resource; Climate Alarmism Reconsidered; and Edison to Enron.