physics

Institute for Energy Research

Institute for Energy Research is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Institute for Energy Research rather than just read about it. In short: The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a Washington, D.C.–based free market non-profit organization that "conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets." IER supports the use of fossil fuels. History The IER is the successor organization to the Institute for Humane Studies—Texas, a foundation established in 1984 by classical-liberalism a…

Key takeaways

Institute for Energy Research belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Institute for Energy Research to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Institute for Energy Research from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a Washington, D.C.–based free market non-profit organization that "conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets." IER supports the use of fossil fuels.

History 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.

Leadership 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.

Funding IER is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is funded 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, the American Petroleum Institute, the Center to Protect Patient Rights, and Peabody Energy. IER says that it has not sought for or accepted financial support from the government. IER has been described as a front group for the fossil fuel industry, since it has accepted financial donations from firms in that sector.

American Energy Alliance The Institute for Energy Research has a political arm, the American Energy Alliance (AEA). According to its website, "AEA’s mission is to enlist and empower energy consumers to encourage policymakers to support free market policies. […] Energy consumers, not bureaucrats, should decide the mix between various sources of energy. The tax code should not be used to pick energy winners and losers." In 2009, AEA ran television advertisements in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill, that proposed an emissions trading plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to address climate change. 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.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Institute for Energy Research

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Institute for Energy Research claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Institute for Energy Research before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Institute for Energy Research ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Institute for Energy Research

In research: Institute for Energy Research appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Institute for Energy Research in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Institute for Energy Research is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1989 establishments in Texas, American organizations established in 1989, Climate change denial in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Institute for Energy Research outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Institute for Energy Research in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Institute for Energy Research means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Institute for Energy Research out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Institute for Energy Research in simple terms?

Why does Institute for Energy Research matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Institute for Energy Research?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Institute for Energy Research.