Houston Chronicle

Total quits U.S. oil lobby group

- By Amanda Jordan

French oil giant Total SA said it won’t renew its membership of a key industry lobby group because the organizati­on’s stance on climate issues doesn’t align with its own.

The company’s decision to leave the American Fuel & Petrochemi­cal Manufactur­ers associatio­n follows a similar move by Royal Dutch Shell Plc earlier this year.

Such lobby groups have long been a target of environmen­tal activists, but now oil majors are increasing­ly feeling the heat from investors demanding that their business models align with the Paris climate accord.

Total reviewed its membership of 30 industry associatio­ns, and detailed its subsequent decision to leave the AFPM in its “Integratin­g Climate Into Our Strategy” report, released on Friday.

It also singled out three other North American lobby groups with which it’s only “partially aligned” on climate issues, and said it would “advocate internally for changes” in their positions.

Explaining its planned exit from the AFPM, Total said it held different views on the Paris agreement, carbon pricing and renewable energies.

The company also said it would reconsider its membership­s of the three other groups “in the event of lasting divergence­s.”

Anglo-Dutch rival Shell said in April that its position on climate change was misaligned with about half of the trade associatio­ns it’s a part of, and the disagreeme­nt with the AFPM was so severe that the company was withdrawin­g.

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