Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Cummins exhibits both positive and negative engagement with science-aligned climate policy, in addition to some unclear positions. The entity exhibits strategic levels of engagement. It is a member of a number of industry associations that have opposed major climate bills in the US, often with positions that differ from the company’s own.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Cummins has positive top-line messaging on climate change. On its corporate website, Cummins acknowledges that climate change is real and supports the goals of the Paris Agreement. In its 2024-25 sustainability report, Cummins appears to support the need for government regulation to respond to climate change.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Cummins demonstrates a mix of positive and negative engagement with climate policy, with most of its recent positions focused on GHG emissions regulation and standards. In February 2024, Cummins submitted comments on the EPA’s Phase 3 greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) without taking a clear position on specific provisions of the regulation. That same month, however, the company joined a statement in support of the EPA’s Phase 3 heavy-duty vehicle emissions standards, while emphasizing a technology-neutral approach to decarbonizing HDVs. Most recently, in its 2024–25 Sustainability Progress Report published in August 2025, Cummins strongly supported adoption of the EURO 7 Regulation.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Cummins consistently promotes a technology-neutral approach to the energy transition, often emphasizing a continued role for fossil gas, hydrogen, and internal combustion engines over a rapid shift to full electrification. In July 2025, the company signed a letter to policymakers advocating for the use of hydrogen in light-duty vehicles alongside increased electrification, and supporting implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation and related clean hydrogen rules. A month earlier, in June 2025, Cummins signed an industry letter urging policymakers to maintain the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s clean hydrogen production tax credit and opposing its proposed phase-out. The letter emphasized fossil gas-based hydrogen with carbon capture, without referencing renewable feedstocks beyond nuclear and hydropower.
In February 2025, in a meeting with the European Commission’s DG CLIMA, the company advocated for a technology-neutral approach to decarbonizing light-duty vehicles rather than a full EV transition, promoted biofuels in developing countries without addressing long-term electrification, and supported hydrogen use in LDVs. That same month, Cummins signed a letter to US Congress defending the IRA’s clean hydrogen tax credit, again emphasizing a role for fossil gas as an eligible feedstock under the scheme.
These positions build on earlier advocacy. In February 2024, Cummins joined a letter and submitted comments opposing strict requirements for hydrogen produced under the IRA’s clean hydrogen tax credit, while expressing broad support for increasing hydrogen use in shipping. In 2023, the company opposed electrification mandates for heavy-duty vehicles, with June 2023 comments resisting increased ZEV truck sales and instead promoting a long-term role for internal combustion engines.
Industry Association Governance: Cummins is a member of a number of industry associations that are highly obstructive of climate policy. The company is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, both of which have consistently negative engagement with climate policy. Cummins CEO Jennifer Rumsey is Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee of the Business Roundtable, which demonstrates mostly negative engagement on climate policy. All three of these trade associations opposed the Inflation Reduction Act. Cummins does not appear to have published a review of its alignment with industry associations on climate change.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2025.