For Immediate Release
Wednesday
December 16, 2009
Contact Information:
Steve Higley 202-552-8455
NPRA Agrees with Senators That Domestic Refining Is A National Security Priority; Concerns Remain with Framework of Climate Legislation
“Our members’ significant investments and research in newer, cleaner technologies place a premium on increased efficiency and emissions reductions while continuing to supply the fuels necessary to meet American demand. We can do both, and for the benefit for our customers – your constituents – we should do both.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Charles T. Drevna, President of NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, wrote to Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) yesterday to recognize their explicit desire to support a strong domestic refining industry in their legislative framework to address global climate change. Mr. Drevna also shared concerns with the targets and timetables within the framework, pointing out that they could carry adverse economic impacts and ultimately impede development of advanced technology.
“You noted in the legislative framework for climate change you shared recently with President Obama that ‘…maintaining the ability to refine petroleum products in the United States is a national security priority,’ that ‘…we can preserve our refining capacity without sacrificing our environmental goals,’ and ‘we must keep the entire energy cycle right here at home.’ NPRA wholeheartedly concurs with these common sense objectives, and have consistently stood by those basic principles,” Mr. Drevna wrote. “Our members’ significant investments and research in newer, cleaner technologies place a premium on increased efficiency and emissions reductions while continuing to supply the fuels necessary to meet American demand. We can do both, and for the benefit for our customers – your constituents – we should do both. …
“Overly aggressive targets and timeframes would impose significant costs on the driving and flying public. Carbon cost estimates for various cap-and-trade proposals are wide-ranging, and most hold overly optimistic technology assumptions. If critical technologies are not developed in a timely manner, costs for carbon reduction could be extremely high. The Energy Information Administration projects costs could approach $200 per ton under a limited technology scenario. An International Energy Agency presentation last year indicates that achieving transportation sector emissions in a program requiring a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2008 levels would likely require a carbon cost of $100 to $300 per ton – with optimistic technology assumptions. This amount would likely translate to somewhere in the range of one to three dollars per gallon of additional cost on transportation fuels. …
“Legislative timeframes in climate change legislation must allow for adequate technology development without hampering economic development. We believe targets discussed to date would fail to achieve this goal. We strongly encourage you to take this into account while crafting legislation.”
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NPRA members include more than 450 companies, including virtually all American refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. Our members supply consumers with a wide variety of products and services used daily in their homes and businesses. These products include gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, lubricants and the chemicals that serve as “building blocks” in making everything from plastics to clothing to medicine to computers.