A coalition of more than 100 organizations, including at least 15 oil and gas groups, plans to hold rallies in about 20 states to express concerns about proposed federal clean air legislation before Congress returns from its August recess.
The group's plans, which were initially reported in an Aug. 16 Washington Post article, were contained in an e-mail message from American Petroleum Institute Pres. Jack N. Gerard to chief executives of API's member companies that environmental organization Greenpeace distributed on Aug. 17.
An API spokeswoman verified that the document was genuine but said that the organization was not sponsoring the effort known as Energy Citizens. "It's a number of organizations including trucking, seniors, farmers, and other groups which agrees that we need affordable energy and we can't lose American jobs," Cathy Landry told OGJ.
Gerard's e-mail revealed how seriously the oil and gas industry is taking the possibility that the US might adopt a carbon cap-and-trade program to address global climate change, however. "The objective of these rallies is to put a human face on the impacts of unsound energy policy and to aim a loud message at those states' US senators to avoid the mistakes embodied the House climate bill and the Obama administration's tax increases on our industry," it said.
On June 26 the US House, by a vote of 219 to 212, appoved HR 2454, which has such a provision as its centerpiece. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the committee's Energy and Environment Subcommittee, cosponsored the measure. The US Senate is expected to consider the bill next.
‘Move aggressively'
"While such efforts are never easy and the risk of failure is never present, we must move aggressively in preparation for the post-Labor Day debate on energy, climate, and taxes," Gerard said in his e-mail. He noted that API has identified 11 states "with a significant industry presence" and 10 other states "where we have assets on the ground" and that the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, and other nonoil and gas groups had joined the effort.
Other oil and gas associations listed as participants at Energy Citizens' web site include the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, the National Ocean Industries Association, the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, and the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Several states' petroleum associations, and oil product marketing and convenience store groups also are involved.
"At the rallies, we will focus our message on two points: the adverse impacts of unsound energy policy (e.g., Waxman-Markey-like legislation, tax increases, and access limitations) on jobs and consumer costs. And we will call on the Senate to oppose unsound energy policy and ‘get it right,'" Gerard said in his e-mail.
"It would logically appear that the ‘Energy Citizen' campaign's objective is to defeat climate change regulation," Phil Radford, Greenpeace's US executive director, said in an Aug. 12 letter to Gerard. This would be contrary to several prominent API members' public support for climate action, including BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and ConocoPhillips, which are members of the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), he added.
"We support the effort. Some organizations say that API is opposed to any kind of climate legislation. That's not true. The opposition is to the House legislation, and anything that looks like it in the Senate because it's hugely discriminatory to transportation fuel consumers and refiners. We support adoption of a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but in a manner that is transparent, protects jobs, provides affordable energy, and continues to provide for US economic growth," said Red Cavaney, senior vice-president for government affairs at ConocoPhillips.
"At the end of the day, companies should protect the interest of their consumers and shareholders. We expect that the bill which will come out of the Senate will look very different from what came out of the House. From feedback we've been hearing, people recognize some of the imbalances in the House legislation," he told OGJ on Aug. 18.
