Environmental Groups Urge Rejection of Manchin Ex-Im Legislation
The Senate should reject the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank reauthorization draft legislation introduced by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in recent days because the bill’s removal of new coal-fired plant finance restrictions would degrade local environments and scale back efforts to address climate change, said a group of a dozen environmental groups in a July 11 letter. The credit agency adopted guidelines in December 2013 aimed at limiting coal financing by requiring carbon capture and storage practice by the international partner involved in the transaction, but the bill relaxes those limits (here).
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The bill would also extend fossil fuel financing that has been authorized in previous Ex-Im legislative measures, said the groups, including Greenpeace and the Center for Biological Diversity. “Increased funding for these coal projects undercuts the Obama administration’s ability to persuade other governments to end export credit agency and other public financing for coal projects, and it erodes foreign confidence that the United States will act on climate or follow the administration’s stated G20 goal of ending fossil fuel subsidies,” said the letter. “Our organizations vehemently oppose Senator Manchin’s proposal (and any similar proposal in the House) to weaken the existing climate policies and instead advocate for the elimination of fossil fuel and coal projects from the Export-Import Bank’s repertoire in the coming reauthorization process.”
The letter outlines a number of Ex-Im transactions that have funded the coal projects globally at the expense of local communities and the climate. Manchin’s bill would reauthorize the credit agency for five years and provide a gradual increase in the credit agency’s lending authority, culminating in a $160 billion authority for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 (see 14071107). The House has also floated two bills over recent weeks (see 14062602).
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the letter.