Scored evidence collected on an entity's engagement with land-use and circular economy policy will now be fully weighted into the final calculations for each entity's metrics. This follows a two year process where InfluenceMap has evolved its methodology to collect evidence on corporate and industry engagement with these key areas of climate-related policy.
We have strengthened the algorithm for discounting the impact older evidence on an organization's top-line metrics. Evidence from within the last two years is weighted the strongest and then gradually weighted out of the scoring calculations as it gets older. All evidence that is 5 years or older is completely removed from the scoring calculations. Users will still be able to view older evidence items that are archived the scoring matrix below, but these will not be impacting the organization's current scores.
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is broadly opposed to climate policy in the US. The association has actively pushed a deregulatory agenda over ambitious climate action and continues to obstruct measures to transition the energy mix in line with IPCC recommendations.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: The IPAA has very limited top-line messaging on climate policy, although where it has engaged it appears to have a relatively mixed stance. In a press release 959852 the company took an ambiguous stance on climate change science. However, more recently in in a joint letter to the U.S. Senate 958419, the IPAA acknowledged the link between climate change and GHG emissions, seemingly indicating a change in the association's positions on top-line messaging. Most recently, in a 2022 letter to Senator Joe Manchin 962019 regarding the Build Back Better Act, the IPAA expressed its concerns and opposition towards policy which would regulate onshore oil and fossil gas development.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: The IPAA appears strongly opposed to specific climate-related policies, including carbon taxes, renewable standards, and GHG emissions regulation.
IPAA’s engagement with renewable energy policy was very limited, with the only meaningful engagement coming from a letters to the Senate Committee on Finance regarding the Clean Energy for America Act in June 2021. Within this letter, the company expressed their opposition to a pro-renewable policy which would see the termination of certain provisions towards the Oil and Gas sector, in favor of tax incentives for investments into clean electricity and transportation.
IPAA strongly oppose any form of carbon tax and engaged heavily with the policy area in 2021 on a number of occasions. The most notable instances of this were in a September 2021 Joint Trade letter opposing the proposed methane fee in the Build Back Better Act and also in an October 2021 press release the following month opposing the 2021 Methane Reductions Act. Included in the same press release, was a [962298 statement from IPAA CEO and President Barry Russell that expressed his concern regarding the detrimental impact the policy would have on the oil and gas industry.
IPAA has also been consistently opposed to positive GHG emissions regulations. This can be seen in a 2019 letter to the EPA where the company argues that GHG emissions standards would negatively impact the oil and gas industry. IPAA reiterates their position in 2020 with another letter to the EPA in September, this time claiming that facts and analyses were being deliberately distorted in an attempt to cripple oil and fossil gas production. Their most recent statement came in a September 2021 letter to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in which they opposed the Methane Reductions Act of 2021. In this letter, although they seemed to be in favor of some form or method of reducing methane emissions, listing it a priority for the oil and gas industry and stating the need for direct regulation of the gas, they still continue to actively oppose the legislation, stating that it would have little impact on methane emissions reductions
Positioning on Energy Transition:
The IPAAs position on Energy Transition revolves predominantly around their consistent support for the maintenance and development of new oil and gas pipelines. The IPAA has engaged with policymakers since at least July 2018, where the company submitted a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, stating that there is a need for the development of new pipelines. In February 2020, the IPAA signed a Joint Letter to the Subcommittee on Energy as part of the Natural Gas Coalition. This letter perpetuated the idea that fossil gas infrastructure will be necessary in addressing environmental challenges. The IPAA continued this position the following year in March through Comments submitted to the Department of Interiors Forum on Federal Oil and Natural Gas Program, where it continued to argue the necessity of fossil gas and oil in the country’s energy portfolio, and also opposed any alterations to the DOI’s oil and gas leasing program under the Biden administration. The most recent instances of the IPAA’s engagement with this area of policy was in a February 2022 letter to President Biden, where the company directly advocated to the President to support domestic fossil gas infrastructure in response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.