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France's Total quits top U.S. oil lobby over climate policies
(Reuters, 15 Jan 2021) Points of difference include lobby's support for rollback of U.S. regulation on methane emissions and how to assign a price to carbon.
France's Total SE on Friday became the first major global energy company to quit the main U.S. oil and gas lobby due to disagreements over its climate policies and support for easing drilling regulations.
Total said it would not renew its 2021 membership with the American Petroleum Institute (API) following a review of the lobby's climate positions, describing them as being only "partially aligned" with its own.
The high-profile departure from the most powerful energy lobby comes ahead of sweeping changes in policy direction in the United States, with incoming President Joe Biden promising to tackle climate change and bring the country to net-zero emissions by 2050.
"As part of our climate ambition made public in May 2020, we are committed to ensuring, in a transparent manner, that the industry associations of which we are a member adopt positions and messages that are aligned with those of the Group in the fight against climate change", Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné said.
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Reuters, 15 Jan 2021: France's Total quits top U.S. oil lobby over climate policies
