Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Marathon Petroleum is actively engaged on US climate change policy, and its positions are largely negative. Marathon’s top-line messaging on climate policy is mixed, and it has generally opposed several specific climate-related policies in the US. In addition, Marathon is a board-level member of numerous industry associations that strategically oppose ambitious climate policy in the US, including the American Petroleum Institute (API) and National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Marathon has mixed top-line messaging on climate policy. In August 2025, Marathon supported the Trump administration's proposed repeal of federal power plant carbon standards, stating that fossil fuel power plants do not contribute "significant" GHG emissions — a position aligned with climate denial in policymaking. This stance appears to be inconsistent with the company’s messaging in its other communications. In its 2024 CDP disclosure, Marathon supported limiting temperature rise to well below 2°C, supported a price on carbon though without clarity on whether this refers to government policy, and supported an ambitious UN climate treaty.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Marathon's engagement with climate change policy has been limited and mostly negative. In October 2023, Marathon advocated for weakening emissions trading policy by requesting that the California Cap-and-Trade program exempt all biomass, regardless of source, from compliance obligations. In July 2023, Marathon advocated for relaxing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Light and Medium Duty Vehicle emissions standards, while also suggesting the integration of renewable liquid fuels. Previously, in April 2023 comments to the EPA on the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the company opposed a request from U.S. states to remove waivers for small refineries under the standard.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Marathon appears to oppose transitioning the energy mix. In August 2025 comments to the EPA, the company advocated for the Trump administration’s proposed repeal of finalized carbon standards for existing coal- and new gas-fired power plants, claiming the Biden EPA exceeded its legal authority. In February 2024, the company submitted comments to the California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations advocating against a waiver of preemption for electric vehicles (EVs). In August 2023, Marathon submitted comments with the Midwest Ozone Group opposing the EPA’s proposed power plant rules, arguing that the suggested best system for emission reduction—carbon capture and storage (CCS) or hydrogen co-firing—exceeded the agency’s legal authority.
The company has also supported policies with unclear impact on the energy transition. In its 2024 CDP disclosure, Marathon supported the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and measures to reduce emissions from relevant fuels, without addressing the need to phase out fossil fuels long-term. Marathon is engaged on broader energy policy, including the 2025 budget reconciliation bill and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), but has not disclosed a clear position (Lobbying Disclosure Report, Q2 2025).
Industry Association Governance: Marathon has disclosed a list of its 2023 industry association memberships and states broadly that it may not always agree with the groups’ positions on climate policy. However, the company has not published a dedicated review of its industry associations’ climate policy engagement activities, therefore omitting key instances of engagement. Marathon added a new “2024” disclosure under the “Political Engagement” section of its corporate website, but the link appears broken. Marathon maintains high-level memberships to several groups actively opposing US climate policy, including board-level membership with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), American Petroleum Institute (API), Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), and National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.
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.