OWOE Staff: This month, the American Petroleum Institute (API) presented its “5 Point Policy Roadmap to Secure American Energy Leadership and Help Reduce Inflation” to President-elect Donald Trump and the 119th US Congress. Given that the API is an organization that was created by the oil industry, is supported by the oil industry, and is funded by the oil industry, it is no surprise that it is a blatantly self-serving plan whose primary purpose is to ensure income and maintain shareholder value for the fossil fuel industry. However, OWOE has reviewed the plan and concluded that it is a not unreasonable plan in many ways. With that in mind, OWOE has done some minor editing to address several serious problems that will negatively impact our planet over the long term and hereby presents its own “5 Point Policy Roadmap to Secure American Energy Leadership and Ensure the Planet is Protected for Future Generations”.

Please note that OWOE has reordered the actions to move tax policy from #5 to #1 given that it is by far the most important of the five actions required to meet the plan’s goals.

OWOE changes/comments are in bold.

Action 1: Advance Sensible Tax Policy

• Retain the 21% corporate tax rate to ensure global competitiveness. Ok.
• Implement a comprehensive carbon tax that accurately accounts for all health and environmental costs associated with global warming due to greenhouse gas (CO2 and methane) emissions. All tax breaks associated with both O&G and clean energy industries shall be repealed to put both on the same playing field. (OWOE has addressed the carbon tax issue a number of times in the past, including July 2018, February 2021, and  May 2023.)
• Preserve crucial international tax provisions. Ok, with the understanding that such provisions shall apply to investments in any energy activity, not just oil and gas.

Action 2: Protect Consumer Choice

• Repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) tailpipe rules. Ok.
• Repeal the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Ok. 
• Deny/Rescind EPA’s Waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) rule. Ok.

Assuming Action 1 is taken, these recommendations will become irrelevant. Once the true cost of greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil and gas extraction, transportation, and burning is factored into the cost of vehicles and fuel, transportation options for the consumer will be placed on level footing. There will be no need for government mandates to transition to electric vehicles (EVs); it will be demand driven. (See OWOE: Why Can’t  Someone Calculate the True Price of Gasoline?)

Action 3: Bolster Geopolitical Strength

• Lift the Department of Energy’s (DOE) LNG permitting pause. Ok, but note that with a robust carbon tax LNG demand could change when the true costs are factored into its international price. (See The Guardian.)
• Swiftly process all pending export applications now languishing at DOE. Ok.
• Ensure the open access of American energy to global markets. OK, but limit investment in energy firms and projects based in allied countries, or countries with shared values of democracy and free enterprise.
• New – Rapidly implement the North American Energy Alliance as proposed by OWOE in 2021 to leverage energy  resources in both the US and Canada to meet worldwide demand and maximize both the financial and strategic value of those resources, including  oil and gas, nuclear, geothermal, hydro and renewable energy and associated technologies.

Action 4: Leverage Our Natural Resources

• Issue a new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) five-year offshore leasing program. Ok, but include both oil and wind leases on equal footing.
• Repeal restrictive onshore leasing rules, starting with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Conservation and Landscape Health Rule. Maybe, but as a minimum apply similar rules to all energy developments.
• Work with Congress to repeal EPA’s methane fee. Ok, but recognize that the methane fee will be superfluous once the comprehensive carbon tax is implemented.

Action 5: Reform Our Permitting System

• Work with Congress to pass Comprehensive Permitting Reform. Ok.
• Repeal the Biden-era NEPA rules. OWOE is supportive of any effort to streamline the permitting process and make rules consistent; however, any such rules must include environmental impacts that aren’t expressly accounted for using the new comprehensive carbon tax.

It should be pointed out that API states that the oil and gas industry supports 11 million jobs in the US. There is no reference to the basis for this number; therefore, OWOE would like to direct readers to the most recent US Department of Energy “United States Energy & Employment Report 2023“. which identifies a total of 8.1 million jobs at the end of 2022 in the much broader energy sector. Of that, over 40% are in the clean energy sector. Regardless of the source or how the numbers are counted, the bottom line is that a significant number of jobs related to energy are associated with clean energy, and no energy policy should be put forth without considering the broader impacts of the policy.

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