The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Thursday unveiled a five-point policy framework for tackling climate change while ensuring U.S. energy needs are met, including an economy-wide price on carbon emissions.

World Energy mix 2040

The endorsement marked a seismic shift for the oil and gas group, which has lobbied against past attempts to impose carbon pricing in the United States.

“Confronting the challenge of climate change and building a lower-carbon future will require a combination of government policies, industry initiatives and continuous innovation,” said CEO Mike Sommers. “America has made significant progress in reducing emissions to generational lows, but there’s more work to do, and there’s nobody better equipped to drive further progress than the people who solve some of the...