Cato Institute — Partnership brief

Personalisation — person + organisation + alignment

Named recipient

Travis Fisher (Director) and Peter Van Doren (Senior Fellow)
Director, Energy and Environmental Policy Studies (Fisher); Senior Fellow & Editor, Regulation magazine (Van Doren)
Cato Institute

Recent work

Fisher leads Cato's energy/environmental policy work — electricity markets, grid reliability, FERC oversight. Van Doren edits Regulation magazine and examines unintended consequences of environmental regulation. Van Doren: 'The Inflation Reduction Act Is a Step Backward for Climate Policy' (Fall 2022).

Signals the recipient responds to

Technology-neutral regulatory design
Critical of FERC overreach
Regulation magazine is a credible conservative venue

Organisational context

Positions

Cato's technology-neutral, property-based regulatory frame is the template for proof-pack disclosure as property-based rulemaking.

Active initiatives

Regulation magazine; energy policy briefs; FERC commentary.

Pressures

Conservative policy community seeks market-mechanism alternatives.

Specific alignment

Why this recipient benefits: Cato's property-based regulatory template is the natural argumentative home for prescribing disclosure properties without prescribing technology. A Cato Policy Analysis paper authored by Fisher or Van Doren frames proof-pack disclosure as the property-based alternative to technology-prescriptive climate rulemaking.

Why now: Pre-FY27 procurement debates; SEC climate-rule litigation context.

The ask: Cato Policy Analysis paper on property-based carbon-removal disclosure.

Think tank: Cato Institute
Target program: Center for Trade Policy Studies / Regulatory Studies
Key contacts: Cato regulatory-studies scholars

Why this think tank

Cato's technology-neutral, property-based regulatory frame is the argumentative template for proof-pack disclosure as property-based rulemaking. Cato backing reduces the political cost of federal disclosure prescription.

The ask

A Cato policy analysis on property-based disclosure as a regulatory-design alternative to technology-prescriptive rulemaking for carbon removal.

Deliverable

A Cato Policy Analysis paper on property-based carbon-removal disclosure.

Context materials Trellison can provide

Proof-pack schema specification (one-page and full technical versions)
Reinhard & Planavsky 2026 npj Climate Action paper summary
Roster of researchers available for joint work
Alpha proof-pack instances for inspection
Corporate-buyer and registry-operator contacts expressing interest in integration testing