As Washington prepares for the coming Trump administration, the American Petroleum Institute believes voters gave the Republican president-elect a mandate to undo President Biden’s strict climate rules.
“It is clear that energy was on the ballot,” said API president Mike Sommers.
The group followed the election by releasing a five-point energy policy roadmap for the coming administration. The plan focused on consumer choice, the U.S.’s geopolitical strength, permitting reform, a sensible tax policy, and leveraging the country’s natural resources.
Sommers thinks the country is in a unique spot to use energy to improve the lives of Americans and stabilize the world. This approach includes policies that reduce inflation and carbon emissions without the need for government rules and restrictions.
It also means prioritizing consumers over environmental goals — particularly in the case of electric vehicle regulations.
While API supports EV technology, it does not believe the Biden administration mandates on tailpipes and fuel economy standards are the right way to go.
Sommers said it made no sense to require that EVs make up two-thirds of all vehicles sold by 2032. He argued any new emissions plans should have consumers and their families in mind.
The group hopes the new administration will deny or rescind a California waiver request to implement regulations requiring all new vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035. API said the policy, adopted by a dozen other states, is out of step with consumer demand and will increase America’s dependence on China for rare earth metals.
One vital part of API’s roadmap involves improving America’s geopolitical strength — particularly about liquid natural gas.
“Just last week, European leaders emphasized the importance of U.S. LNG to reduce reliance on Russia,” said Amanda Eversole, API’s executive vice president and chief advocacy officer.
The United States is the world’s largest exporter of LNG. The Energy Information Administration said last year it expects the country’s natural gas production to increase by 15 percent. In comparison, LNG exports will grow 152 percent by 2050. Much of that will go to European countries that switched from Russian natural gas because of the war in Ukraine.
That was before the Biden administration paused all new LNG contracts earlier this year. However, the pause was overturned by a judge months later. While U.S. LNG exports to Europe remain near record levels, API thinks they could be even higher.
The group lobbied Trump to rescind the pause when he takes the oath of office in January. It also wants the Energy Department to process all pending export applications to open up America’s energy to the globe.
Energy giants Shell and ExxonMobil have projected that the demand for traditional fuels, including LNG, will rise 50 percent in the next two decades. Sommers said it was essential to ensure the U.S. continued “to supply the world with the energy that it needs.”
To help with growing energy demand, API argued the Trump administration should open up energy development on federal land and offshore sites. During her presidential campaign, Kamala Harris claimed the Biden-Harris administration increased oil and gas leases through the Inflation Reduction Act. However, the White House approved only three offshore oil and gas lease sales through 2029. It also canceled all leases approved by the first Trump administration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
API hopes those rules will be repealed.
One vital part of API’s energy roadmap involves permitting reform.
API supports reforms to the Clean Water and the National Environmental Protection acts so energy companies can start development quicker. The group says streamlining the process gives companies a better timeline for environmental reviews. Regulators and environmentalists used the rules to delay oil and gas pipeline projects, like the Keystone XL project, for years, causing increased costs and lost labor.
Sommers supported a bipartisan energy permitting reform bill that passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in July. He called it a legislative priority for the lame-duck session until the new Congress is sworn in next year. Lead sponsor Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said the bill contains everything the country needs to deliver “dependable, reliable and affordable energy in the cleanest fashion possible.”
The final stretch of the roadmap involves tax reform. API wants the United States to keep its corporate tax rate at 21 percent to stay globally competitive. It’s also pushing to extend domestic infrastructure investment tax provisions, specifically those on intangible drilling costs, to help drive investment and job creation.
Sommers said the roadmap presents a vision of what American energy leadership can be in the future. More important, “It’s also a return to common sense.”
