Kinder Morgan
What do our scores mean?
The organizational score represents the degree to which the organization influencing climate policy and legislation. Corporations also have relationship scores reflecting their links with influencers like trade associations. Both are combined to place the corporation in a performance band. Full details can be found here.
Update August 2021: If limited evidence had been collected either on a company's direct policy engagement (Organization Score) or industry association links (Relationship Score) this is signified with an ‘n/a’ (not available). If limited evidence has been collected in both areas, the Total Score is also given as n/a. Full details and links back to any primary evidence that has been collected can still be located on the company’s profile.
Engagement Intensity
The engagement intensity (EI) is a metric of the extent to which the company is engaging on climate change policy matters, whether positively or negatively. It is a number from 0 (no engagement at all) to 100 (full engagement on all queries/data points). Clearly energy companies are more affected by climate regulations and will have a higher EI than, for example retailers. So an organization’s score should be looked at in conjunction with this metric to gauge the amount of evidence we are using in each case as a basis for scoring. On our scale, an EI of more than 35 indicates a relatively large amount of climate policy engagement.
Relationship Score, December 2020
A new batch of industry associations has been uploaded onto the InfluenceMap system and the relationship scores recalculated accordingly.
Updated terminology, February 2021
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
- Details of Organization Score
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What do the 0,1,2 and NSs, NAs mean?
Each cell in the organization's matrix presents a chance for us to assess each data source against our column of climate change policy queries. We score from -2 to 2, with negative scores representing evidence of obstructive influence. "NA" means "not applicable" and "NS" means "not scored" - that is we did not find any evidence either way. In both cases, the cell's weighting is re-distributed over others. Red and blue cells represent highly interesting negative or positive influence respectively. Full details can be found here.
- Details of Relationship Score
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What is the Relationship Score
A corporation, as well as its organizational score will have a relationship score. It is computed by aggregating the organizational scores of the Influencers (trade bodies etc.) it has relationships with, weighted by both the strength of these relationships and the relative importance of the Influencers towards climate change policy. Full details can be found here.
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QUERIES
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DATA SOURCES | ||||||
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Main Web Site
The main organizational Web site of the company and its direct links to major affiliates and attached documents. |
Social Media
We search other media and sites funded or controlled by the organization, such as social media (Twitter, Facebook) and direct advertising campaigns of the organization. |
CDP Responses
We assess and score responses to two questions from CDP's climate change information request (12.3 a & 12.3c) related to political influence questions (currently these are not numerically scored by the CDP process). |
Legislative Consultations
Comments from the entity being scored on governmental regulatory consultation processes, including those obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests. |
Media Reports
Here we search in a consistent manner (the organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
CEO Messaging
Here we search in a consistent manner (the CEO/Chairman, organization name and relevant query search terms) a set of web sites of representing reputable news or data aggregations. Supported by targeted searches of proprietary databases. |
Financial Disclosures
We search 10-K and 20-F SEC filings where available, and non US equivalents where not. . |
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Communication of Climate Science
Is the organization transparent and clear about its position on climate change science? |
1
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NS | NA | NS | NS |
-2
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-1
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Alignment with IPCC on Climate Action
Is the organization supporting the science-based response to climate change as set out by the IPCC? (the IPCC) |
0
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NS | NA | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Supporting the Need for Regulations
To what extent does the organization express the need for regulatory intervention to resolve the climate crisis? |
0
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NS | NA | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Support of UN Climate Process
Is the organization supporting the UN FCCC process on climate change? |
NS | NS | NA | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Transparency on Legislation
Is the organisation transparent about its positions on climate change legislation/policy and its activities to influence it? |
-2
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NA |
-2
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NA | NA | NA | NS |
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Carbon Tax
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: carbon tax. |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
1
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NS |
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Emissions Trading
Is the organisation supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: emissions trading. |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Energy and Resource Efficiency
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: energy efficiency policy, standards, and targets |
NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Renewable Energy
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Renewable energy legislation, targets, subsidies, and other policy |
-2
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NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS |
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Energy Transition & Zero Carbon Technologies
Is the organization supporting an IPCC-aligned transition of the economy away from carbon-emitting technologies, including supporting relevant policy and legislative measures to enable this transition? |
-1
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-1
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NS | NS |
-1
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-1
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NS |
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GHG Emission Regulation
Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: GHG emission standards and targets. Is the organization supporting policy and legislative measures to address climate change: Standards, targets, and other regulatory measures directly targeting Greenhouse Gas emissions |
1
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NS | NS |
-1
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NS |
0
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NS |
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Disclosure on Relationships
Is the organization transparent about its involvement with industry associations that are influencing climate policy, including the extent to which it is aligned with these groups on climate? |
-1
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NA |
-2
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NA | NA | NA | NS |
Open PDF file of Data Source
How to Read our Relationship Score Map
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Climate Lobbying Overview: Kinder Morgan appears to have limited but mainly negative engagement with climate-related policy. It does not appear to support the science of the IPCC while also appearing to lobby negatively on climate related regulations and supporting a continued role for fossil fuels in the energy mix.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Kinder Morgan’s messaging on climate policy appears to have evolved over time, however, the company remains vague in both its position on climate change and the need for global emissions reductions in line with IPCC recommendations. In 2021, Kinder Morgan published its climate change statement, where it states that climate change is a ‘global priority’ but does not mention the Paris Agreement or offer support for any specific temperature or emissions goals. In its 2019 ESG report, Kinder Morgan did state support for domestic and international efforts to mitigate climate change, although it is unclear if this support is for mitigation efforts that are in line with the IPCC’s requirements. However, a 2017 white paper published on its corporate website appears to be communicating misleading information around climate change science while evoking the threat of energy poverty as a justification for continued fossil fuel use.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Kinder Morgan appears to engage on a limited basis with climate-related policy and regulations. It does not disclose its positions on climate change policy, nor does it respond to CDP’s disclosure requests. A 2020 white paper published on its corporate website titled "The Need for Fossil Fuel" actively opposes the Renewable Fuel Standard. Previously, in 2017, Kinder Morgan attempted to weaken legislation on methane emissions reduction, though its 2019 ESG report states support for “performance-based” federal regulations on methane.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Kinder Morgan appears to advocate for the continuation of fossil fuels in the future energy mix. In its 2021 climate change statement, it promotes the continued use of fossil gas, describing it as a ‘lower-carbon fuel’ and back-up for renewables, while in 2020 it described fossil gas as a ‘key component’ to the energy future, statements that suggest support for a permanent rather than a transitional role for fossil gas in the energy mix. In the 2020 white paper "The Need for Fossil Fuels" Kinder Morgan points to the cost and lack of flexibility of renewable energy, while also appearing not to support the decarbonization of transport, emphasizing the drawbacks of EV’s in comparison to ICE vehicles. In 2019, a spokesperson for the company defended state-level adoption of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, a model law drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council to criminalize protests against fossil fuel infrastructure.
Industry Association Governance: Kinder Morgan lacks a dedicated disclosure of its trade association links. Its 2019 Environmental Stewardship report includes a brief list of trade associations it is affiliated with but does not disclose the positions held within those associations or whether Kinder Morgan is aligned or misaligned on their climate policy positions. Kinder Morgan is a member of the American Gas Association, which appears to be actively lobbying to weaken climate policy in the US.