Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The American Petroleum Institute (API) is oppositional to various strands of climate policy in the US. The association has actively pushed for a deregulatory agenda over climate policy and continues to advocate in favor of oil and gas expansion in the US.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: API has largely negative top-line messaging on climate policy. API’s ‘Climate Action Framework’ on the website, accessed in February 2024, supports emissions reduction without referencing the need to reductions emissions in line with IPCC recommendations. In July 2022, following the US Supreme Court verdict on West Virginia vs EPA, API appeared in an interview with CBS News where the API representative appeared to not support government regulation and instead advocated for an industry-led, voluntary response to climate change. API referenced the Paris Agreement in a December 2023 press release, however, InfluenceMap could not find any evidence of API’s explicit support for the Paris Agreement in the last two years.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: API is opposed to multiple climate-related policies, including carbon taxes, renewable standards, and GHG emissions regulation. Despite stating its top-line support for methane regulation in the website, API opposed the methane tax set in the Inflation Reduction Act in comments submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January 2023. In February 2022, API’s comments to the EPA on methane regulations opposed the regulations, several of which API referred to as “unnecessarily burdensome.” In this letter, API contested EPA’s legal authority to apply methane standards on existing sources. API also opposed GHG standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks in Connecticut in a letter submitted in March 2022.
API is also oppositional to fuel efficiency policy. In October 2023 comments to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), API opposed the proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and challenged the agency’s legal authority to enforce the rule. In July 2023 comments to the EPA, API also opposed the proposed US GHG emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles MY 2027+ and advocated for technology-neutral regulations instead of a focus on electrification.
Positioning on Energy Transition: API does not appear to support the transition of the energy mix in line with IPCC scenarios for 1.5C, and continues to advocate for expanding fossil fuel production in the US. A press release from February 2024 announced that API had filed a legal challenge against the US offshore leasing program for issuing the “fewest lease sales in history.” Another press release in the same month opposed the US government’s decision to pause permits for LNG export facilities. In June 2022, API released a “10-in-2022 Plan” outlining 10 policy recommendations for the US federal government to support oil and gas production. This included lifting the oil and gas development restrictions in the US federal lands and waters by resuming the 5-year leasing program and the revising the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process to swiftly approve infrastructure permitting processes to enable oil and gas projects.
API does not appear to support measures to decarbonize the electricity and transport sector. Comments submitted to the EPA in August 2023 opposed the proposed rules for power plants and advocated for flexibilities in compliance and ensuring long-term role for fossil gas. In June 2024, API filed legal documents as part of lawsuits to challenge three major federal US transport climate policies, the EPA's light and medium-duty vehicle emissions standards and greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles, and NHTSA's corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for vehicles.
This summary was last updated in Q1 2024.