The U.S. oil refining industry on Friday blasted the Waxman-Markey climate bill which passed yesterday evening in Congress, saying it would increase imports of crude and refined products thus impeding national energy security.

The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association stated that under the scheme of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, American refiners would face a severe disadvantage with foreign competitors.

While this may appear, in the short-term, to be a monumental political success, ultimately it represents nothing more than an abject policy failure, NPRA President Charles T. Drevna said today in a statement.

The climate bill aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by requiring industries including the refineries, to buy allowances to pollute. The allowances would be placed in a cap-and-trade system where firms can buy from the ones that won't need them.

Foreign refiners, whose facility emissions are obviously not addressed in [the climate bill] and whose operating costs are much lower, will gain a distinct advantage over American businesses in the marketplace, Drevna said.

He said the bill could even inadvertently be responsible for a rise on global greenhouse gas emissions by causing more production by foreign refiners who won't face restrictions as tough as found in the United States.

The Waxman-Markey bill is strongly supported by President Barack Obama and will likely head to a full House vote in August.

Climate change