US oil lobby group backs repeal of climate rule for vehicles, not power plants

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The American Petroleum Institute supports the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to repeal the foundation of greenhouse gas regulations for vehicles but not for power plants and other stationary industrial facilities, its president said on Monday.

"We would not support repealing the endangerment finding for stationary sources," API President Mike Sommers told reporters, adding that the trade group believes it has "the greatest standing" from a regulatory perspective and it is clear the EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from those sources.

The EPA plans to finalize its proposal to repeal its scientific determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, called the endangerment finding. Such a move would remove within days the legal foundation that underpins all major climate regulations.

Reversal of the "endangerment finding" would gut one of the most consequential federal standards that had enabled the U.S. to tackle climate change by regulating vehicles, industries, and energy-producing facilities that emit heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Environmental groups have said that the scientific finding made in 2009 is even less in dispute today and should be left intact, with vehicle emission rules Washington's biggest tool to combat climate change.

President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax and global efforts to reduce emissions a "con job."

“The science establishing harm to human health and the environment from global warming emissions was evident in 2009 and it’s even more undeniable today," said Gretchen Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Sommers said API believes that a separate endangerment finding for stationary sources should remain in place, which would require the EPA to regulate the potent greenhouse gas called methane from the oil and gas sector. The industry supports that rule.

The EPA has delayed by 18 months implementation of former President Joe Biden's methane rules.

"We were appreciative of the delays that EPA announced last year, and what we're doing now is working with them on crafting durable rules that we think are common sense and provide the flexibility needed to maintain production levels while still reducing emissions and incentivizing continued innovation in this space," API's senior vice president for regulatory affairs Dustin Meyer said.