American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers | Center for Climate Integrity

The Center for Climate Integrity asserts that the American Petroleum Institute (API) spent decades coordinating a campaign of deception regarding the dangers of fossil fuels despite early internal research predicting catastrophic climate events. The document claims API has evolved from outright denial to 'greenwashing' and continues to lobby against climate legislation and federal leasing moratoriums while providing political cover for its member companies.

• API conducted and funded early research that predicted severe climate consequences, including a 1968 Stanford Research Institute report and a 1980 report warning of "globally catastrophic events" from burning fossil fuels.
• In the late 1990s, API actively worked to discredit climate science, including a 1998 multimillion dollar communications plan designed to make the public and Congress recognize uncertainties in climate science and view supporters of the Kyoto Protocol as "out of touch with reality."
• API is accused of using 'greenwashing' and misleading claims to block climate action, such as attributing CO2 emission declines primarily to natural gas while excluding methane emissions and undercounting the 68.1% contribution of renewables and energy efficiency identified by Oil Change International.
• API serves as a political shield for its member companies, lobbying for the rollback of environmental protections and opposing carbon taxes while allowing individual members to publicly support such measures as a "talking point."
• API has actively opposed recent climate initiatives, spending $423,000 on ads between August 8 and September 30, 2021, to attack climate provisions in the Congressional reconciliation package and fighting President Biden's federal leasing moratorium.

APA

Center for Climate Integrity (2021). American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers | Center for Climate Integrity. https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/api-mike-sommers

Chicago

Center for Climate Integrity. American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers | Center for Climate Integrity. 2021. https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/api-mike-sommers.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for Climate Integrity |title=American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers | Center for Climate Integrity |date=6 October 2021 |url=https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/api-mike-sommers |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforclimateintegrity2021american, author = {{Center for Climate Integrity}}, title = {{American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers | Center for Climate Integrity}}, publisher = {Center for Climate Integrity}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://climateintegrity.org/news/view/api-mike-sommers}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }