chet thompson

Birthday: May, 1970

Hometown: Potomac, Maryland

Primary residence: Potomac, Maryland

Current role: CEO and President of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers 

Net worth: unknown

Salary: $2,734,816 in 2022

Education:

• J.D. from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law

• Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government from Boston College

Board memberships, affiliations, and roles:

• Member of the United States Energy Association (USEA)

• Member of the Economic Club of Washington DC

• Secretary for AFPM

Past roles: 

• Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP (2006-2015); Chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources Group

• Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2004-2006)

• Attorney at Collier Shannon Scott PLLC (1994-2006)

Fun facts: 

• Thompson has an account on X where he is very active about his anti-EV sentiments and has specifically targeted the EPA in his tweets, despite having previously worked for the agency

  • “Must read from @WSJopinion. ‘The EPA’s new tailpipe emissions rule is a plan to eliminate gas-powered cars.” -Chet Thompson, X, 5/25/2024

  • Regarding EVs: “If the EPA moves forward with these policies, the American people are going to lose access to the cars and trucks that meet their needs and budgets. And millions more across the “California states” may no longer be able to buy a new gas-powered car at all. These policies are bad for the economy, bad for consumers, and bad for our energy security.” -Chet Thompson, X, 2/22/2024

AFPM has directly facilitated carbon emissions that have accelerated climate change due to its close ties with major fossil fuel companies. For example, in 2022 alone, ExxonMobil emitted 766 metric tons of CO2, Chevron emitted 593 metric tons, Marathon emitted 266 metric tons, and Valero emitted 296 metric tons. AFPM has also played a major role in slowing down climate-positive legislation, receiving the lowest possible grade of an E- for climate policy engagement by LobbyMap. This low score is due to the trade association’s negative engagement on a wide range of US climate policies, opposition to policies aiming to electrify transport & increase biofuels, active opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act and the Build Back Better Act, and support of increasing oil production in the US as well as continued use of pipeline infrastructure. Despite AFPM’s clear lack of meaningful climate engagement, the trade association advertises its “support” of “the aspiration of the Paris Accord to address climate change through global cooperation and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.”

AFPM, Energy Transfer, and the Dakota Access Pipeline

• Energy Transfer, the energy company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), is a member of AFPM, and R.B. Herrscher (Energy Transfer’s Executive VP of NGLs, Refined Products, and Petrochemicals) is a board member of AFPM. 

• The DAPL directly violates Article II of the Fort Laramie Treaty which specifically guarantees the “undisturbed use and occupation” of reservation lands, through which the 1,172-mile-long pipeline runs. The DAPL also poses major public health risks for nearby communities, specifically the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Chet Thompson stated that Donald Trump’s approval of the DAPL “is fulfilling the commitment he made to the American people to build out the necessary infrastructure to unleash the vast potential of America’s energy resources.”

Chet Thompson has benefited heavily from his crimes against the Earth, with sources revealing that he received an incredibly high salary in 2022: ProPublica reported $2,734,816 and E&E News reported $3,132,631. AFPM’s total revenue was $31,749,480, with a net asset of $12,753,676. Thompson has a home in Potomac, Maryland valued at roughly $2.5M.

Thompson has earned various awards, including being named one of Washington’s Top Lobbyists and one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business by Chambers USA in 2013. He earned the Certificate of Accommodation by the US Department of Justice (in association with the EPA) in 2006, and was named to the US Chamber’s Association Committee of 100. 

Chet Thompson is the CEO of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), a trade association that represents 98% of oil refineries. AFPM describes itself as a “trade association representing high-tech American manufacturers of virtually the entire U.S. supply of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, other fuels and home heating oil, as well as the petrochemicals used as building blocks for thousands of vital products in daily life.”

The primary fossil fuel companies that AFPM is tied to, based on its board of directors, are ExxonMobil, CITGO, Chevron, Marathon, Phillips 66, Valero Energy Corporation, Energy Transfer, American Refining Group. The list of companies AFPM is tied to have high investments in fossil fuels and low climate policy engagement scores. For example, Chevron has $208,721M of investments in fossil fuels and a D- in climate policy engagement, and ExxonMobil has $232,746M in investments in fossil fuels and a D in climate policy engagement. AFPM itself earned the lowest climate policy engagement score of E- by LobbyMap with an organization score of 25%, indicating that the trade association is 25% supportive of the Paris Agreement based on its engagement in climate policy.  

AFPM’s 2024 International Petrochemical Conference

• During the trade association’s international petrochemical conference in May of 2024, AFPM celebrated ExxonMobil’s Karen McKee for her “outstanding contributions to the petrochemical community over a career spanning decades and continents.” Chet Thompson directly supported McKee’s work with the fossil fuel giant, applauding her for “her substantial contributions to our industry and congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition.”

Despite being fossil fuel companies and investing $133,889M and $62,898M in fossil fuels respectively, Shell and BP withdrew from AFPM in 2019 and 2020 due to their lack of climate-conscious positions. 

• “I submit to you that no industry has done more to improve the condition of mankind than ours… Our critics say that our products pollute the air – wrong…I submit to you we will be at the center of innovation for many more decades to come…When you manufacture petrochemicals, you’re really manufacturing opportunities.” – Thompson, 2018

• On joining AFPM despite his background in law and at the EPA: “People would ask, ‘Why?’ But I just believe in the industry. I believe in what they do, and you won’t find finer people in all the world than those that do petrochemical refining. And I’m not just saying that, it’s not a platitude, it is just a fact that these are great people. They’re humble people, they believe in what they do and it’s contagious. It was an attractive idea to continue to do what I was doing, which is a lot of environmental energy law, and not walk away from it, because so much of what we deal with, our priorities and our agenda here at AFPM, are so aligned with that.” -Thompson, 2023
  

• “I would say protecting liquid fuels is a really big thing right now. We have an administration that is a tad bit hostile to fossil fuels. We have a whole slew of proposals out there right now that are designed to accelerate the transition away from us in an unrealistic kind of way.” -Thompson, 2023
  

• On needing more advertising for fossil fuels: “We realized about six or seven years ago that we weren’t doing enough to talk to people about the value of our products, how they make modern life possible, and all the good work we’re doing. We realized that most people don’t know this. Most of the coverage of our industry is negative. So now we do a lot. That priority is big. And I have the best communications team in town right here.” -Thompson, 2023

• AFPM quoting Thompson: “We encourage the administration to focus on long-term energy policies that promote more crude oil production.” -Thompson, 2022

• "AFPM is and has been committed to supporting policies that address climate change," said AFPM Chief Executive Chet Thompson. "Because of that, it leads us to assume that this decision was made based on factors other than our actual positions on the issues." -Thompson, 2020