The Neighbor to Have

Being the neighbor to have means the employees of Team El Paso making a difference in communities where we operate. For example, in 2006 we donated more than $4.1 million to charities and invested more than 11,000 hours in volunteer activities that strengthen our communities.

We also maintain the highest levels of safety for our employees, our facilities, and in our communities. As a company responsible for finding and delivering natural resources, we are committed to environmental stewardship.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

While El Paso is actively working to meet our nation’s growing energy needs, we cannot ignore the potential causes and effects associated with greenhouse gas emissions.  One of our core values is stewardship, which includes our care for the environment.  We believe we need to be active, constructive participants in this debate. As an industry leader, it is incumbent upon us as a company and individually as employees and members of our community to reduce our impact on the environment while fulfilling our role in helping meet our nation’s demand for energy. We need to be clear about where we stand on these issues. Clear with our shareholders. Clear with our employees and their families. And clear with the communities where we live and work. The following are our commitments:

Assess – One of our first responsibilities is to gather accurate information on our company’s impact on the environment, through inventorying and then managing emissions to reduce their impact on the environment. We have made significant progress in this area related to pollutants like NOx, CO, VOCs and air toxics. With respect to Greenhouse Gases, we have already undertaken the initial effort to develop our carbon footprint. El Paso will develop annual greenhouse gas emissions inventories and work with a third party to verify and certify the results.  The results from the effort will lay the foundation for future initiatives.

Engage – El Paso possesses a unique depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in the energy business that enables us to be part of the solution.  We will work to make sure technically sound, market-based policies are adopted and actions are taken to address air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.  We have and will continue to participate in local and national policy discussions to assist with the development of effective solutions to this complex issue.

Act – As an industry leader in the oil and gas exploration and production and interstate natural gas transmission business, we recognize our responsibility to take constructive actions. Employing management and operation practices to reduce emissions and loss of natural gas are vital. Verified reductions in emissions provide positive contributions and should be facilitated by incentives and credits against current or future obligations.

Research – We believe that policies and decisions should be based on sound science. We believe that continued research and development, supported by the U.S. government and industry, is crucial to the development of cost effective technologies. Having said this, we will not use the lack of complete science as an excuse for inaction. We will use our influence to carry out new research and development in our industry and apply appropriate processes and technologies that conform with our commitment to improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Support Effective Regulation – We support the adoption of policies that are designed to result in tangible improvements in air quality and greenhouse gas emissions in the most efficient manner available using the appropriate technologies which provide the best possible outcome per dollar invested.

Support National Regulation – We support a national regulatory framework to address air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.  Regulatory uncertainty caused by multiple and disparate regional and state programs will result in less than optimal outcomes in all cases. A national framework is recommended and could include a national registry to report greenhouse gas emissions, as an example. A national registry will enable a review of current baseline levels to help identify realistic reduction strategies and goals.

Support Market-Based Solutions – We believe that any clean air strategy must incorporate a market-based program with linkages to functioning and transparent trading markets. Such mechanisms can offer the most cost effective emission reduction strategies while balancing economic growth and providing additional incentives to use the best available technologies.  

Promote Natural Gas – We believe that the increased use of natural gas should be an important component of any clean air or greenhouse gas emissions strategy. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel available and should play a key role in all clean air or greenhouse gas strategies. Therefore, we support infrastructure development in the areas of natural gas transmission, storage, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and coal bed methane production. We also support distributed generation through gas fired micro-turbines or efficient internal combustion engines and other appropriate technologies.