Proposals to tax greenhouse gas emissions have been attacked by the head of the US oil refinery trade group even though the idea has support from some of his largest member companies including BP and ExxonMobil.
Chet Thompson of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers said a carbon tax would be “bad public policy” that raised prices at the pump. He called it “fanciful” to describe such a tax as revenue-neutral.
A group of large companies, including several oil producers, has embraced a carbon tax as an efficient way to drive down emissions heating the planet. They were joined this year by economists, including 27 Nobel laureates and four former chairs of the Federal Reserve.
The $3.4m that AFPM spent on federal lobbying in 2018 was the second most of any oil and gas trade group, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Its opposition points to a rocky path for carbon-tax campaigners even as the climate debate takes on more urgency in Washington.
“We have not seen a carbon tax proposal yet that we think comes anywhere close to meaningfully addressing the climate issue,” Mr. Thompson told the Financial Times. “The only thing we’ve seen so far are proposals that would raise the price of our products and make it harder for certain segments, particularly less economically viable segments of our society, to afford them.”
AFPM’s stance is at odds with some of its member companies. BP, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell and Total or their subsidiaries are regular members of AFPM. BP has a delegate on its executive committee.
They are also founding members of the Climate Leadership Council, a group established in 2017 to advocate for a carbon fee that would fund dividend payments to US households.
Investors and environmental activists have chastised energy majors for membership of organizations that undermine efforts to address climate change.