Elections have consequences. President Joe Biden made pledges to fight climate change as President if elected, and he is making progress. According to Bloomberg reporting, Biden has ordered an immediate end to finance any new coal plants abroad. Throughout recent history, the United States has done the opposite of this President, funding coal mines, construction of facilities that burn the coal, and funding fossil fuel infrastructure wherever the fuels were discovered.
Burning coal is the most significant contributor to the heating of the planet. In Glasgow, 40 countries pledged to shift from coal to other energy sources. The United States was not one of them, and neither was China. The United States pledged to no longer fund new coal projects abroad by the end of 2022. Joe smashed the deadline a year earlier than expected.
(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration has orderd an immediate halt to new federal support for coal plants and other carbon-intensive projects overseas, a major policy shift designed to fight climate change and accelerate renewable energy worldwide.
The wide-ranging directive for the first time bars U.S. government backing for future ventures, potentially affecting billions of dollars in annual funding as well as diplomatic and technical assistance. The move was detailed in a cable sent late last week to U.S. embassies and obtained by Bloomberg News.
The policy contains significant exemptions, including for compelling national security concerns, foreign policy considerations or the need to expand energy access in vulnerable areas. It also does not apply to existing projects, including some the U.S. has supported under multiple administrations.
Nevertheless, the policy shift could affect a significant number of potential foreign projects, including terminals in eastern Europe and the Caribbean to receive shipments of U.S. natural gas. It also goes beyond constraining financial aid and rules out other, softer forms of government support, including diplomatic and technical assistance that benefits developers of pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals and other projects overseas.
“Our international energy engagement will center on promoting clean energy, advancing innovative technologies, boosting U.S. clean-tech competitiveness and providing financing and technical assistance to support net-zero transitions around the world,” according to the document.
Grist reports that the coal industry is being well taken care of by Congress domestically. I suspect the changes are in response to placating coal baron Joe Manchin to vote to pass the bill in the Senate.
Emily Pontecorvo writes on the climate fights predicament:
One of Joe Biden’s priorities upon entering the White House was to change that and shift the focus to sustainable development and green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, the U.S. joined nearly 40 countries at the United Nations climate summit that pledged to end financing by the end of 2022 for projects outside their borders that emit greenhouse gases. Now the Biden administration is starting to make good on that promise a year in advance.
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The news comes as Congress is poised to offer a lifeline for coal-fired power plants at home by increasing the tax credit that plants can claim for installing carbon capture systems. The increase is part of the Build Back Better Act, a $2 trillion social spending and climate bill that passed in the House in November and includes billions of dollars to cut emissions. As the Senate continues negotiations on the bill, lawmakers are also considering doling out $775 million in subsidies for oil and gas producers to monitor and reduce their methane emissions.
Bloomberg, which obtained a copy of the memo, reports that the new ban does not apply to projects the U.S. is already financing or otherwise providing support for. It also exempts new oil and gas projects if they are expected to advance national security or expand energy access. More than 700 million people still lacked access to electricity in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency.
Kate De Angelis, international finance program manager for the advocacy group Friends of the Earth, told Bloomberg these exemptions “could render these restrictions on fossil fuel financing completely meaningless.” Friends of the Earth found that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a government agency that finances projects in low- and middle-income countries, spent almost $4 billion on fossil fuel projects over the past five years. The U.S. Export Import Bank, which facilitates the U.S. export of goods and services, has approved over $5 billion for fossil fuel projects abroad in the last two years.
It sends a signal to fossil fuel interests but will do nothing to stop the horrifying trajectory we are on toward extinction. We need BBB desperately, and we have so few arrows in our quiver. Some want to throw BBB under the bus and prioritize our democracy; I won’t argue the point; I’m scared shitless by both disasters. But...
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