Total drops API on climate concerns

The French firm is hitting the road, but its European peers are sticking with the API for the time being

France’s Total became the first major oil company to quit the American Petroleum Institute (API), announcing its decision to not renew its 2021 membership on 15 January following a detailed analysis of the influential lobby group’s positions on climate policy. The API has a great deal of power in Washington, DC, spending heavily to influence members of Congress and the White House on energy policies and regulations in the US. “As part of our Climate Ambition made public in May 2020, we are committed to ensuring, in a transparent manner, that the industry associations of which we are a member adopt positions and messages that are aligned with those of the Group in the fight against climate