Oct 15, 2020
View of illuminated office windows in a section of the Lafayette Building also known as Export-Import Bank Building, Washington DC, 1946. by Walter B. Lane
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Sweden
View of illuminated office windows in a section of the Lafayette Building also known as Export-Import Bank Building, Washington DC, 1946. by Walter B. Lane
The bank is set to vote Thursday on financing an oil project in Bahrain, the latest in a string of overseas fossil fuel projects.
Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:
A federal bank that finances projects overseas is set to vote on Thursday on whether to use taxpayer dollars to help drill oil and gas wells in Bahrain, a contentious decision that prompted two of the bank’s climate advisers to resign, according to people with knowledge of their decisions.
The project in Bahrain is one of several controversial overseas fossil fuel projects that the Export-Import Bank of the United States is currently considering.
The two advisers, who sit on an 18-person board that President Biden created to help the bank take climate change into account when making investments, resigned last week after a meeting about the Bahrain project, according to five current and former bank officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.
They described mounting frustration among climate advisory board members, who say they are being kept in the dark about upcoming fossil fuel loans and blocked from making recommendations about whether to approve or even modify a particular project.
At least two more climate advisory board members are considering stepping down, according to the officials.
Mr. Biden’s aides have expressed concern about the direction of the bank, which has consistently flouted a 2021 presidential order that government agencies stop financing carbon-intensive projects overseas.
The bank is an independent federal agency run by a six-person board of directors who are appointed by the president to four year terms.
The two members who resigned are Barbara Buchner, the global managing director of the Climate Policy Initiative, a nonprofit research group; and Stacy A. Swann, founder of a climate investment group called Resilient Earth Capital. Both declined to comment.
UK Export Finance, the state-owned export credit agency, is facing a review of its decision to back Total’s US$20bn liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. It follows a barrage of criticism directed towards the agency by UK MPs and activists for its continued support of overseas fossil fuel deals.
Friends of the Earth, an NGO, has been given the go-ahead for a judicial review that will examine the judgment taken by UKEF to provide around US$1bn of taxpayer money to help finance the plant.
The NGO says that the defendants failed to consider essential issues or carry out the necessary analysis to properly determine if supporting the project aligned with the UK’s and Mozambique’s obligations under the Paris Agreement – the global deal to keep greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
A full hearing is expected to take place later this year, according to Friends of the Earth.
Read more: https://www.gtreview.com/news/europe/uk-export-finance-faces-review-over-us1bn-support-for-mozambique-lng-project/
House Moves on Export-Import Bank
House Moves on Export-Import Bank
The House passed the Export-Import Bank bill last month in a vote largely along party lines. Thirteen House Republicans voted for the measure. The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, where the National Review considers it dead on arrival.
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer(D-MD) urged the Senate to support the Export-Import Bank, which helps US businesses maintain a strong, competitive presence…
View On WordPress
Read more at Countable →
An additional part of the continuing resolution, and part of the debate over the next few weeks.
Scott Garrett, a former Freedom Caucus member and Pence ally, gets bounced in a major smackdown to White House