Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Hydrogen Forward engages on US climate policy with mostly negative positions. Though the group has broadly supported policy to advance clean hydrogen production, it consistently opposed the proposed implementation guidance for the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean hydrogen tax credit.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Hydrogen Forward has limited top-line messaging on climate policy. On its website, last accessed in October 2024, Hydrogen Forward recognized the warming effect of methane and appeared to support efforts to research the warming effects of hydrogen in the atmosphere. In an October 2023 blog post, the group supported a net-zero economy by 2050. However, although the group appeared to support government policy to promote decarbonization on its website, it emphasized a need for policy to support a “diverse array of decarbonization technologies” without clarifying its position on the ambition required to address climate change. The organization does not appear to have taken a public position on the Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Hydrogen Forward has limited engagement with climate-related policy. InfluenceMap has not identified evidence of positions on, or engagement with, climate-related regulations other than those related to the energy transition.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Hydrogen Forward’s engagement surrounding the energy transition is mostly negative, consistently supporting policy that would accelerate hydrogen production while opposing stringent requirements that would ensure clean hydrogen production. On the group’s website, last accessed in September 2024, Hydrogen Forward generally supported the hydrogen provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The group advocates for mixed positions on hydrogen end uses. Although it promotes the use of hydrogen produced from renewables and fossil gas with CCS in hard-to-abate sectors, it has also advocated for hydrogen use in non-hard-to-abate applications, including power generation and heating. Hydrogen Forward’s positive messaging on hydrogen contrasts with the group’s direct opposition to specific federal hydrogen policy, especially on the Inflation Reduction Act’s hydrogen production tax credit. For example, in March 2024 testimony in a public hearing before the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of Hydrogen Forward, Alex Savelli, the Managing Director of Hydrogen Technologies for a subsidiary of Cummins, opposed the proposed guidance for implementing the tax credit. His testimony opposed the use of the “three pillars” of additionality, regionality, and hourly time matching in the final regulation. Opposition to these pillars indicates a negative position on the transition of the energy mix, as the ambition of this guidance aims to ensure that the growth of a hydrogen industry does not result in increased GHG emissions. Similarly, in February 2024 comments to the IRS, Hydrogen Forward opposed the three pillars and generally supported flexibility in emissions accounting for renewable natural gas and “low-emissions” fossil gas used as hydrogen feedstocks. Previously, in October 2022 comments to the US Department of Energy, the group advocated for a technology-neutral approach to the DOE’s Clean Hydrogen Production Standard.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2024.