WASHINGTON – The fine print of one of the must-pass spending bills before Congress this week includes a provision that will reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) for seven years. The EXIM reauthorization bill that passed the House in November lacked protections for the environment proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). The board of EXIM voted at the end of September to provide a $5 billion loan to a liquefied natural gas project in northern Mozambique that will be disastrous for the climate and local communities.
In response to the introduction of the omnibus package, Kate DeAngelis, senior international policy analyst at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:
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Congress snuck a provision into the budget deal that will reauthorize EXIM without any limits on its massive support of the fossil fuel industry. Congress seems completely oblivious to the climate crisis the world faces even as the annual international climate change conference just wrapped up. The Export-Import Bank cannot continue providing billions to fossil fuel projects that wreak havoc on the climate and local communities.