Institute for Energy Research

Institute for Energy Research

Formation	1989
Founder	Robert L. Bradley, Jr.
Founded at	Houston, Texas
Type	Nonprofit public policy research
Location	Washington, D.C.
Board of directors	Richard L. Stroup, Steven F. Hayward
Website	instituteforenergyresearch.org

The Institute for Energy Research (IER), is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that conducts research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that the free-market provides the most inexpensive solutions to global energy and environmental challenges.

History

IER was founded in 1989 by Robert L. Bradley Jr. in Houston, Texas. 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, who previously worked as Enron’s public policy analysis director, 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.

Leadership

The Institute's CEO and founder, Robert L. Bradley, is a visiting fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, a research fellow at the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, and an adjunct scholar at both the Cato Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He has written seven books, including Capitalism at Work and Edison to Enron, and he maintains the website Political Capitalism.

Bradley wrote an article published by Competitive Enterprise Institute, entitled "Heated Debate" to respond to a negative review by Harvard Professor John P. Holdren of the 2001 book The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjørn Lomborg. Lomberg was inspired to write his book after he read an article entitled "The Doomslayer" profiling Julian L. Simon. Lomberg was honored in 2003 with the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute's Julian L. Simon award. The award was given to Robert L. Bradley in 2002 and more recently in 2012 to Matt Ridley, who is also skeptical about climate change.

Funding

IER is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is funded entirely by tax deductible contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations. IER has received funding from the Brown Foundation (started by founders of a construction and energy company), the Searle Freedom Trust and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation. They have also previously received funding from ExxonMobil and from the American Petroleum Institute. IER says that it has not sought for or accepted financial support from the government.

Activities

In December 2011, IER released its North American Energy Inventory, a compilation of total energy in North America. Using the North American Energy Inventory, IER asserted that the US could be energy independent if the US federal government were to allow for greater domestic energy exploration and production.

American Energy Alliance

The Institute for Energy Research has a political arm, the American Energy Alliance (AEA). According to its website, the AEA engages in "grassroots public policy advocacy and debate" regarding energy and environmental policies.

In 2012, Kenneth Vogel reported that unnamed sources told Politico that both the IEA and the AEA were partially funded by the Koch brothers and their donor network.

In 2013, AEA provided an online petition to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the U.S. federal government administration's approval of the Keystone XL pipeline extension. AEA supports approval of the pipeline.

The AEA opposes a Wind Production Tax Credit.

See also

• Robert P. Murphy

External links

• Official website
• Institute for Energy Research Internal Revenue Service filings archived at the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer