American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers is a trade association representing oil refining companies. According to its website, AFPM advocates for policies that promote growth and investment in the refining and petrochemical manufacturing industries. The Detroit News described the organization as a “lobbying group for the oil and gas industry.” As of 2024, the group had 450 member companies. Chet Thompson is the CEO and president; Thompson previously worked as a partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, as deputy general counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the George W. Bush administration and before working at EPA, Thompson worked at Collier Shannon Scott PLLC for 10 years.

American Fuel And Petrochemical Manufacturers Opposed Clean Car Standards

In 2023, Chet Thompson Said EPA’s HDV and LDV Proposed Rules Were “Bad For Consumers, The Environment, Our Freedom of Mobility And U.S. National Security.” In April 2023, President and CEO Chet Thompson issued a statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposal of light- and heavy-duty vehicle GHG emission standards for model years 2027-2032 that said the “EPA’s proposal to effectively ban gasoline and diesel vehicles is bad for consumers, the environment, our freedom of mobility and U.S. national security.” AFPM argued that the EPA’s light duty vehicle standards would trade “American energy security” for “much greater dependence on a battery and mineral supply chain dominated by China.”

AFPM Called DOT’s Proposed CAFE Standards “Severe.” AFPM’s website claimed the DOT’s CAFE Standards were “so severe” they could only be met “if the new vehicle fleet is primarily composed of cars and trucks that run on electrons rather than gallons.” According to the group, “the standards are set so high they are very clearly aimed at eliminating internal combustion vehicles from the market.”

In 2022, AFPM Criticized The California Air Resources Board’s Rule Banning The Sale of New ICE Vehicles by 2035 And Urged The Biden Admin To Reject CA’s Request For A Clean Air Act Waiver. AFPM’s website claimed that millions of Americans would “lose the option to buy the car or truck THEY want” if EPA granted California a waiver. The group said it was up to the Biden administration whether one “super state” would get “to ban sales of new gas cars for half the country and whether California’s policies will be allowed to continue threatening jobs in places like Michigan and Ohio, states that have intentionally never embraced California’s vehicle extremism.” According to an August 2022 article from The Washington Times, “Chet Thompson, President and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, urged President Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency to reject California’s request for a Clean Air Act waiver. He said a waiver would make Mr. Newsom and board members the ‘car and truck czars for the entire United States.’ ‘Most Americans have no idea this ban is happening or that California’s extreme policy providing it gets an EPA waiver could become law for them, too,’ Mr. Thompson said.”

American Fuel And Petrochemical Manufacturers Campaigned Against Electric Vehicle Incentives

In 2019, Chet Thompson released a statement on a Senate proposal to expand the electric vehicle tax credit by 400,000 vehicles per manufacturer, saying AFPM opposed the legislation and believed “that continuing to force American workers to bankroll electric vehicle purchases by the wealthiest is bad policy especially considering that conventional fuels and vehicles have never been cleaner or more efficient. The EV tax credit was designed to sunset, and after a decade of subsidies worth billions of dollars, it’s time for EVs to compete on a level playing field.’” In 2022, AFPM said “electric vehicle incentives are some of the most expensive and least effective approaches to reduce carbon emissions.” The organization called on Congress to “simply eliminate the credit altogether.” In 2021, AFPM sought to forge an alliance with corn growers and biofuel producers to lobby against the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles. According to Reuters, “The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), an oil refining trade group, confirmed it has been contacting state and national representatives of the corn and biofuel industries in recent weeks to seek support for a policy that would reduce the carbon intensity of transport fuels and block efforts to provide federal subsidies for electric vehicles.”