The industry should support rather than fight regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, preferably through a carbon tax, and the expansion of biofuels and other alternatives, provided they are economically viable, she added. Elsenhans was speaking at the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) annual meeting in San Antonio earlier this week.
The call to action comes as refiners face growing momentum in Washington and among the public to curb use of fossil fuels and deal with climate change concerns. But finding a unified voice will not be easy on measures that many refiners still see as costly and unrealistic efforts to shift the nation to renewables, said the report.
Charlie Drevna, president of the association, said refiners are still discussing the best way to approach several key policy issues, but said the need for a common front is clear. The industry must have certainty as it considers where to invest and needs a level playing field with other sectors. "If they're going to do something, we want to make sure they don't create winners and losers," he said. "Congress has to stop looking at this industry as a piggy bank."
Elsenhans said if climate change legislation is inevitable, she prefers a single carbon tax over a cap-and-trade system for regulating greenhouse gases because she believes it is more predictable and fair. Generally, a cap-and-trade system would place progressively stricter limits on carbon emissions by companies, but allow for industry to buy credits to cover emissions that surpass the cap, the report said.
As for biofuels, she said the industry should support those fuels that are economically and environmentally sustainable.
And she suggested a 10-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax could raise an additional $15 billion a day for infrastructure improvements, the report said. Bill Klesse, CEO of Valero Energy, the nation's largest refiner, also supports a boost to the 18.4-cent federal gasoline tax, the Chronicleadded.
Chairman Kevin W. Brown, executive vice president, operations for Sinclair Oil Co., presided over NPRA's 107th annual meeting. Nearly 1,400 representatives of refining, crude and refined product marketing, technology, chemical and other services companies attend the event, the group said, including representatives from approximately 80 U.S. refining and marketing companies and more than 30 international refining companies.
Philadelphia-based Sunoco is a manufacturer and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products, with 910,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, approximately 4,700 retail sites selling gasoline and convenience items, approximately 6,000 miles of crude oil and refined product owned and operated pipelines and 43 product terminals.
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