Oil and gas majors and their affiliated trade associations have striven behind the scenes to negatively influence government regulation on carbon credits in the United States. This report builds on our first Oil Spill report, and highlights how the fossil fuel sector’s influence is exercised both at the federal level, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and at the state level, where some fossil fuel interests have spent $273 million dollars in lobbying California climate legislation over two decades between 2005 and 2026.

Oil and gas majors attempt to influence US carbon credit legislation through their dedicated corporate lobbying arms, affiliated trade associations and carbon market players they have a financial stake in. They exercise this influence by providing feedback directly through stakeholder consultations, submitting joint and individual position letters, as well as holding positions on committees. One major focus of these lobbying activities is to resist measures that would either restrict credit use, elevate credit price or increase scrutiny over the key quality criteria, which would dampen the volume of eligible credits, thereby raising their cost.