The U.S. oil industry is looking to a longtime adversary for help in opposing the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles. Reuters says the oil industry is reaching out to the nation’s corn growers and biofuel producers for lobbying help, but so far, they’re getting a cool reception to the idea.
Multiple sources tell Reuters that the oil industry reaching out to their longtime opponents shows the scale of its concern over President Biden’s measures to combat climate change by pulling back on the use of liquid fossil fuels.
The two industries have one thing in common; a shared desire to make sure there’s a future for internal combustion engines. The political landscape is quite different as the oil industry’s influence has dropped off since Biden replaced Donald Trump as president, but the farm belt is still a powerful constituency.
The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, an oil refining trade group, confirmed to Reuters that it’s been contacting state and national representatives of the corn and biofuel trade groups in past weeks. Their goal is to garner support for a policy that would reduce the carbon intensity of transport fuels and block efforts to provide more federal subsidies for electric vehicles.