As Washington prepares for the incoming Trump administration, the American Petroleum Institute (API) believes voters gave the new president a mandate to undo President Joe Biden’s extreme climate policies.
“It is clear that energy was on the ballot,” said API president Mike Sommers during a Tuesday conference call.
The organization released a five-point energy policy roadmap for President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday. The plan focused on consumer choice, U.S. geopolitical strength, permitting reform, a sensible tax policy, and leveraging the country’s natural resources.
Sommers believes this is a unique moment in history to use energy to improve the lives of Americans and also help stabilize the world. That 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 (EV) regulations.
While API supports the use of EVs, it does not believe the Biden-Harris administration mandates on tailpipe 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 in the U.S. by 2032. He argued any new emissions plans should have consumers and their families in mind.
The group hopes the incoming administration will reject a California waiver request to implement regulations requiring all new vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035. API said the policy, which was 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 key part of API’s roadmap involves improving America’s geopolitical strength – particularly in relation to liquid natural gas (LNG).
“Just last week, European leaders emphasized the importance of U.S. LNG to reduce reliance on Russia,” noted Amanda Eversole, API Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer. Russia has used its oil and natural gas supplies as leverage against the EU, leverage the U.S. can offset with exports.
The U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of LNG. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last year it expects the country’s natural gas production to increase 15 percent while LNG exports will grow 152 percent by 2050. Much of that will go to European countries that switched from Russian natural gas due to its war in Ukraine.
That was before the Biden-Harris 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 believes they could be even higher.
Pennsylvania is the number two natural gas producer in the U.S., behind only Texas.
API wants Trump to rescind the pause as soon as he takes office in January. It also wants the Energy Department to swiftly process all pending export applications to open up America’s energy to the globe.
Energy giants Shell and ExxonMobil have projected demand for traditional fuels, including LNG, will rise 50 percent in the next two decades. Sommers said it was important to make sure 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 failed presidential campaign, Democrat 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 key 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 on environmental reviews. Regulators and environmental activists use the current rules to delay oil and gas pipeline projects, like the Keystone XL project, for years, causing increased costs and lost labor.
Sommers expressed support for a bipartisan energy permitting reform bill that passed the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in July. He called it a legislative priority for the lame-duck session that runs until the new Congress is sworn in early next year. Lead sponsor Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) said the bill contains everything the country needs to deliver “dependable, reliable, and affordable energy in the cleanest fashion possible.”
Permitting reform is also possible in Pennsylvania. Gov. Josh Shapiro has expressed support for reform in the past.
The final stretch of the roadmap involves tax reform. API wants the U.S. 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 importantly, “It’s also a return to common sense.”
