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Smoke rises due to a fire at a Pertamina refinery in Cilacap, Indonesia on November 14, 2021.
(Photo: El Darmawan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Biden Accused of Breaking Key Climate Pledge After Ex-Im Bank Backs Indonesia Oil Refinery
"This dirty refinery would threaten the air, land, and water of communities in Indonesia, making a mockery of Biden's purported commitment to environmental justice," said one climate campaigner.
May 12, 2023
Climate groups accused President Joe Biden of violating his pledge to end public financing for international fossil fuel projects after the U.S. Export-Import Bank voted Thursday to approve a $99.7 million loan for an Indonesian oil refinery.
The Export-Import Bank's (EXIM) board of directors, chaired by Biden appointee Reta Jo Lewis, said the loan would "support facility expansion and fuel efficiency and safety upgrades" at a Balikpapan refinery run by Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil company.
Lewis said the expansion project—which has drawn vocal opposition from U.S. and Indonesian civil society organizations—would also "support hundreds of U.S. jobs at dozens of manufacturers across the country, and allow Indonesia to substantially reduce its reliance on imported, refined transportation fuels."
But climate organizations aren't buying the bank's claims about the supposed benefits of funding the oil refinery expansion, a move that runs directly counter to Biden's 2021 vow to end new financing for overseas fossil fuel projects. The decision to approve the funding came less than a month after EXIM briefly backed off its plan to support the nearly $100 million loan in the face of outrage from environmentalists.
"Biden's claims to be a climate leader are increasingly laughable after EXIM's approval of this refinery," Adam McGibbon, public finance strategist at Oil Change International, said in a statement Friday. "Biden has broken the most significant climate promise the United States made at the 2021 Glasgow climate conference."
Kate DeAngelis, international finance program manager at Friends of the Earth U.S., said Thursday that EXIM's support for the refinery expansion "thumbs its nose at Biden's pronounced need for responsible climate action, and his commitment in Glasgow to end overseas fossil fuel finance."
"This project is disastrous enough and yet continues to be a high risk of fires and spills that will harm local communities and the environment," said DeAngelis. "While President Biden is putting forward policies to address climate change, he is financially backing climate disasters through the Export-Import Bank."
\u201cThe oil refinery in Indonesia that @EximBankUS voted to support has a history of fires and spills that have polluted the marine environment.\n\nOne oil spill area polluted at least 7,000 hectares of water. And the risk of further incidents is high. https://t.co/YGEZvSiF3W\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1683837274
Bloomberg reported Thursday that EXIM's financing is "set to help bolster gasoline production by 101,000 barrels per day at the PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan Petroleum Refinery." The loan's approval marked "the first major EXIM bank decision on a fossil fuel project since Biden became president and promised to curb such public funding support," the outlet noted.
Facing backlash over EXIM's move, the Biden White House tried to distance itself from the vote.
"EXIM made an independent decision to approve the loan under its authorities and its decision does not reflect administration policy," said National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge, who insisted the White House "stands by its commitment to end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector."
EXIM has long been criticized for funneling public money to the fossil fuel industry amid the worsening climate emergency.
Friends of the Earth and Oil Change International noted in a report last year that "fossil fuels dominate EXIM's energy portfolio," pointing to the bank's approval of "one of the largest transactions in its history for [liquefied natural gas] in Mozambique in 2019 (and then revised in 2020)."
"Since then," the report continued, "EXIM has continued to approve support for troubling projects, including Pemex, the Mexican oil and gas company with a terrible worker safety and environmental record that led to an ocean inferno and massive methane leak, and Freeport LNG, which involved a lender that quickly collapsed after the EXIM deal and a recent explosion created a 450-foot fireball."
In a letter to EXIM board members earlier this year, Friends of the Earth U.S. and Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia—both affiliates of Friends of the Earth International—warned against any U.S. support for the Balikpapan refinery, citing the "the high risk of fires and oil spills and the negative impacts on the local communities and climate."
"As the main purpose of the refinery is to produce gasoline and diesel," the letter added, "EXIM support for this project would be in violation of President Biden's climate executive orders and plans, as well as his commitment in Glasgow to end public support for the international fossil fuel projects."
EXIM's vote came as the Biden administration continued to face backlash for greenlighting the Willow project and other major drilling initiatives that will undercut lagging efforts to rein in planet-warming carbon emissions.
"Lending his support to devastating fossil fuel development like the Willow oil project, Alaska LNG, Gulf Coast exports, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline is bad enough," Collin Rees, Oil Change International's U.S. program manager, said Friday.
"But this [EXIM financing] approval shows the United States is committed to doing the fossil fuel industry's bidding in all corners of the world," Rees added. "This dirty refinery would threaten the air, land, and water of communities in Indonesia, making a mockery of Biden's purported commitment to environmental justice."
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fossil fuelsfriends of the earthindonesiajoe bidenoil change internationalexport-import bankindonesia oil refinery
Climate groups accused President Joe Biden of violating his pledge to end public financing for international fossil fuel projects after the U.S. Export-Import Bank voted Thursday to approve a $99.7 million loan for an Indonesian oil refinery.
The Export-Import Bank's (EXIM) board of directors, chaired by Biden appointee Reta Jo Lewis, said the loan would "support facility expansion and fuel efficiency and safety upgrades" at a Balikpapan refinery run by Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil company.
Lewis said the expansion project—which has drawn vocal opposition from U.S. and Indonesian civil society organizations—would also "support hundreds of U.S. jobs at dozens of manufacturers across the country, and allow Indonesia to substantially reduce its reliance on imported, refined transportation fuels."
But climate organizations aren't buying the bank's claims about the supposed benefits of funding the oil refinery expansion, a move that runs directly counter to Biden's 2021 vow to end new financing for overseas fossil fuel projects. The decision to approve the funding came less than a month after EXIM briefly backed off its plan to support the nearly $100 million loan in the face of outrage from environmentalists.
"Biden's claims to be a climate leader are increasingly laughable after EXIM's approval of this refinery," Adam McGibbon, public finance strategist at Oil Change International, said in a statement Friday. "Biden has broken the most significant climate promise the United States made at the 2021 Glasgow climate conference."
Kate DeAngelis, international finance program manager at Friends of the Earth U.S., said Thursday that EXIM's support for the refinery expansion "thumbs its nose at Biden's pronounced need for responsible climate action, and his commitment in Glasgow to end overseas fossil fuel finance."
"This project is disastrous enough and yet continues to be a high risk of fires and spills that will harm local communities and the environment," said DeAngelis. "While President Biden is putting forward policies to address climate change, he is financially backing climate disasters through the Export-Import Bank."
\u201cThe oil refinery in Indonesia that @EximBankUS voted to support has a history of fires and spills that have polluted the marine environment.\n\nOne oil spill area polluted at least 7,000 hectares of water. And the risk of further incidents is high. https://t.co/YGEZvSiF3W\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1683837274
Bloomberg reported Thursday that EXIM's financing is "set to help bolster gasoline production by 101,000 barrels per day at the PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan Petroleum Refinery." The loan's approval marked "the first major EXIM bank decision on a fossil fuel project since Biden became president and promised to curb such public funding support," the outlet noted.
Facing backlash over EXIM's move, the Biden White House tried to distance itself from the vote.
"EXIM made an independent decision to approve the loan under its authorities and its decision does not reflect administration policy," said National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge, who insisted the White House "stands by its commitment to end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector."
EXIM has long been criticized for funneling public money to the fossil fuel industry amid the worsening climate emergency.
Friends of the Earth and Oil Change International noted in a report last year that "fossil fuels dominate EXIM's energy portfolio," pointing to the bank's approval of "one of the largest transactions in its history for [liquefied natural gas] in Mozambique in 2019 (and then revised in 2020)."
"Since then," the report continued, "EXIM has continued to approve support for troubling projects, including Pemex, the Mexican oil and gas company with a terrible worker safety and environmental record that led to an ocean inferno and massive methane leak, and Freeport LNG, which involved a lender that quickly collapsed after the EXIM deal and a recent explosion created a 450-foot fireball."
In a letter to EXIM board members earlier this year, Friends of the Earth U.S. and Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia—both affiliates of Friends of the Earth International—warned against any U.S. support for the Balikpapan refinery, citing the "the high risk of fires and oil spills and the negative impacts on the local communities and climate."
"As the main purpose of the refinery is to produce gasoline and diesel," the letter added, "EXIM support for this project would be in violation of President Biden's climate executive orders and plans, as well as his commitment in Glasgow to end public support for the international fossil fuel projects."
EXIM's vote came as the Biden administration continued to face backlash for greenlighting the Willow project and other major drilling initiatives that will undercut lagging efforts to rein in planet-warming carbon emissions.
"Lending his support to devastating fossil fuel development like the Willow oil project, Alaska LNG, Gulf Coast exports, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline is bad enough," Collin Rees, Oil Change International's U.S. program manager, said Friday.
"But this [EXIM financing] approval shows the United States is committed to doing the fossil fuel industry's bidding in all corners of the world," Rees added. "This dirty refinery would threaten the air, land, and water of communities in Indonesia, making a mockery of Biden's purported commitment to environmental justice."
Climate groups accused President Joe Biden of violating his pledge to end public financing for international fossil fuel projects after the U.S. Export-Import Bank voted Thursday to approve a $99.7 million loan for an Indonesian oil refinery.
The Export-Import Bank's (EXIM) board of directors, chaired by Biden appointee Reta Jo Lewis, said the loan would "support facility expansion and fuel efficiency and safety upgrades" at a Balikpapan refinery run by Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil company.
Lewis said the expansion project—which has drawn vocal opposition from U.S. and Indonesian civil society organizations—would also "support hundreds of U.S. jobs at dozens of manufacturers across the country, and allow Indonesia to substantially reduce its reliance on imported, refined transportation fuels."
But climate organizations aren't buying the bank's claims about the supposed benefits of funding the oil refinery expansion, a move that runs directly counter to Biden's 2021 vow to end new financing for overseas fossil fuel projects. The decision to approve the funding came less than a month after EXIM briefly backed off its plan to support the nearly $100 million loan in the face of outrage from environmentalists.
"Biden's claims to be a climate leader are increasingly laughable after EXIM's approval of this refinery," Adam McGibbon, public finance strategist at Oil Change International, said in a statement Friday. "Biden has broken the most significant climate promise the United States made at the 2021 Glasgow climate conference."
Kate DeAngelis, international finance program manager at Friends of the Earth U.S., said Thursday that EXIM's support for the refinery expansion "thumbs its nose at Biden's pronounced need for responsible climate action, and his commitment in Glasgow to end overseas fossil fuel finance."
"This project is disastrous enough and yet continues to be a high risk of fires and spills that will harm local communities and the environment," said DeAngelis. "While President Biden is putting forward policies to address climate change, he is financially backing climate disasters through the Export-Import Bank."
\u201cThe oil refinery in Indonesia that @EximBankUS voted to support has a history of fires and spills that have polluted the marine environment.\n\nOne oil spill area polluted at least 7,000 hectares of water. And the risk of further incidents is high. https://t.co/YGEZvSiF3W\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1683837274
Bloomberg reported Thursday that EXIM's financing is "set to help bolster gasoline production by 101,000 barrels per day at the PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan Petroleum Refinery." The loan's approval marked "the first major EXIM bank decision on a fossil fuel project since Biden became president and promised to curb such public funding support," the outlet noted.
Facing backlash over EXIM's move, the Biden White House tried to distance itself from the vote.
"EXIM made an independent decision to approve the loan under its authorities and its decision does not reflect administration policy," said National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge, who insisted the White House "stands by its commitment to end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector."
EXIM has long been criticized for funneling public money to the fossil fuel industry amid the worsening climate emergency.
Friends of the Earth and Oil Change International noted in a report last year that "fossil fuels dominate EXIM's energy portfolio," pointing to the bank's approval of "one of the largest transactions in its history for [liquefied natural gas] in Mozambique in 2019 (and then revised in 2020)."
"Since then," the report continued, "EXIM has continued to approve support for troubling projects, including Pemex, the Mexican oil and gas company with a terrible worker safety and environmental record that led to an ocean inferno and massive methane leak, and Freeport LNG, which involved a lender that quickly collapsed after the EXIM deal and a recent explosion created a 450-foot fireball."
In a letter to EXIM board members earlier this year, Friends of the Earth U.S. and Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia—both affiliates of Friends of the Earth International—warned against any U.S. support for the Balikpapan refinery, citing the "the high risk of fires and oil spills and the negative impacts on the local communities and climate."
"As the main purpose of the refinery is to produce gasoline and diesel," the letter added, "EXIM support for this project would be in violation of President Biden's climate executive orders and plans, as well as his commitment in Glasgow to end public support for the international fossil fuel projects."
EXIM's vote came as the Biden administration continued to face backlash for greenlighting the Willow project and other major drilling initiatives that will undercut lagging efforts to rein in planet-warming carbon emissions.
"Lending his support to devastating fossil fuel development like the Willow oil project, Alaska LNG, Gulf Coast exports, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline is bad enough," Collin Rees, Oil Change International's U.S. program manager, said Friday.
"But this [EXIM financing] approval shows the United States is committed to doing the fossil fuel industry's bidding in all corners of the world," Rees added. "This dirty refinery would threaten the air, land, and water of communities in Indonesia, making a mockery of Biden's purported commitment to environmental justice."
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LATEST NEWS
In Pictures: Anti-Trump 'Hands Off' Demonstrations Nationwide
"Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country who are standing up and speaking out for our voting rights, fundamental freedoms, and essential services like Social Security and Medicare."
Apr 05, 2025
In communities large and small across the United States on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people collectively took to the streets to make their opposition to President Donald Trump heard.
The people who took part in the organized protests ranged from very young children to the elderly and their message was scrawled on signs of all sizes and colors—many of them angry, some of them funny, but all in line with the "Hands Off" message that brought them together.
"Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country who are standing up and speaking out for our voting rights, fundamental freedoms, and essential services like Social Security and Medicare," said the group Stand Up America as word of the turnout poured in from across the country.
A relatively small, but representative sample of photographs from various demonstrations that took place follows.
A Day in Pictures... 'Hands Off!' Rallies Nationwide
Demonstrators gather on Boston Common, cheering and chanting slogans, during the nationwide "Hands Off!" protest against US President Donald Trump and his advisor, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in Boston, Massachusetts on April 5, 2025. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP)
'They Must Be Prosecuted': Video Found on Phone of Murdered Gaza Medic Refutes IDF Claims
"Everyone involved in this crime against humanity, and everyone who covered it up, would face prosecution in a world that had any shred of dignity left."
Apr 05, 2025
A video presented to officials at the United Nations on Friday and first made public Saturday by the New York Times provides more evidence that the recent massacre of Palestinian medics in Gaza did not happen the way Israeli government claimed—the latest in a long line of deception when it comes to violence against civilians that have led to repeated accusations of war crimes.
The video, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), was found on the phone of a paramedic found in a mass grave with a bullet in his head after being killed, along with seven other medics, by Israeli forces on March 23. The eight medics, buried in the shallow grave with the bodies riddled with bullets, were: Mustafa Khafaja, Ezz El-Din Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Refaat Radwan, Muhammad Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Libda, Muhammad Al-Hila, and Raed Al-Sharif. The video reportedly belonged to Radwan. A ninth medic, identified as Asaad Al-Nasasra, who was at the scene of the massacre, which took place near the southern city of Rafah, is still missing.
The PRCS said it presented the video—which refutes the explanation of the killings offered by Israeli officials—to members of the UN Security Council on Friday.
"They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives," Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN's humanitarian affairs office in Palestine, said last week after the bodies were discovered. Some of the victims, according to Gaza officials, were found with handcuffs still on them and appeared to have been shot in the head, execution-style.
The Israeli military initially said its soldiers "did not randomly attack" any ambulances, but rather claimed they fired on "terrorists" who approached them in "suspicious vehicles." Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesperson, said the vehicles that the soldiers opened fire on were driving with their lights off and did not have clearance to be in the area. The video evidence directly contradicts the IDF's version of events.
As the Times reports:
The Times obtained the video from a senior diplomat at the United Nations who asked not to be identified to be able to share sensitive information.
The Times verified the location and timing of the video, which was taken in the southern city of Rafah early on March 23. Filmed from what appears to be the front interior of a moving vehicle, it shows a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck, clearly marked, with headlights and flashing lights turned on, driving south on a road to the north of Rafah in the early morning. The first rays of sun can be seen, and birds are chirping.
In an interview with Drop Site News published Friday, the only known paramedic to survive the attack, Munther Abed, explained that he and his colleagues "were directly and deliberately shot at" by the IDF. "The car is clearly marked with 'Palestinian Red Crescent Society 101.' The car's number was clear and the crews' uniform was clear, so why were we directly shot at? That is the question."
The video's release sparked fresh outrage and demands for accountability on Saturday.
"The IDF denied access to the site for days; they sent in diggers to cover up the massacre and intentionally lied about it," said podcast producer Hamza M. Syed in reaction to the new revelations. "The entire leadership of the Israeli army is implicated in this unconscionable war crime. And they must be prosecuted."
"Everyone involved in this crime against humanity, and everyone who covered it up, would face prosecution in a world that had any shred of dignity left," said journalist Ryan Grim of DropSite News.
Millions March Against Trump-Musk in Nationwide 'Hands Off' Protests
"They're dismantling our country. They're looting our government. And they think we'll just watch."
Apr 05, 2025
In communities across the United States and also overseas, coordinated "Hands Off" protests are taking place far and wide Saturday in the largest public rebuke yet to President Donald Trump and top henchman Elon Musk's assault on the workings of the federal government and their program of economic sabotage that is sacrificing the needs of working families to authoritarianism and the greed of right-wing oligarchs.
Indivisible, one of the key organizing groups behind the day's protests, said millions participated in more than 1,300 individual rallies as they demanded "an end to Trump's authoritarian power grab" and condemning all those aiding and abetting it.
"We expected hundreds of thousands. But at virtually every single event, the crowds eclipsed our estimates," the group said in a statement Saturday evening.
"Hands off our healthcare, hands off our civil rights, hands off our schools, our freedoms, and our democracy."
"This is the largest day of protest since Trump retook office," the group added. "And in many small towns and cities, activists are reporting the biggest protests their communities have ever seen as everyday people send a clear, unmistakable message to Trump and Musk: Hands off our healthcare, hands off our civil rights, hands off our schools, our freedoms, and our democracy."
According to the organizers' call to action:
They're dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we'll just watch.
On Saturday, April 5th, we rise up with one demand: Hands Off!
This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way. They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam.
They're handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich. If we don't fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.
The more than 1,300 "Hands Off!" demonstrations—organized by a large coalition of unions, progressive advocacy groups, and pro-democracy watchdogs—first kicked off Saturday in Europe, followed by East Coast communities in the U.S., and continued throughout the day at various times, depending on location. See here for a list of scheduled "Hands Off" events.
"The United States has a president, not a king," said the progressive advocacy group People's Action, one of the group's involved in the actions, in an email to supporters Saturday morning just as protest events kicked off in hundreds of cities and communities. "Donald Trump has, by every measure, been working to make himself a king. He has become unanswerable to the courts, Congress, and the American people."
In its Saturday evening statement, Indivisible said the actions far exceeded their expectations and should be seen as a turning point in the battle to stop Trump and his minions:
The Trump administration has spent its first 75 days in office trying to overwhelm us, to make us feel powerless, so that we will fall in line, accept the ransacking of our government, the raiding of our social safety net, and the dismantling of our democracy.
And too often, the response from our leaders and those in positions to resist has been abject cowardice. Compliance. Obeying in advance.
But not today. Today we've demonstrated a different path forward. We've modeled the courage and action that we want to see from our leaders, and showed all those who've been standing on the sidelines who share our values that they are not alone.
Citing the Republican president's thirst for "power and greed," People's Action earlier explained why organized pressure must be built and sustained against the administration, especially at the conclusion of a week in which the global economy was spun into disarray by Trump's tariff announcement, his attack on the rule of law continued, and the twice-elected president admitted he was "not joking" about the possibility of seeking a third term, which is barred by the constitution.
"He is destroying the economy with tariffs in order to pay for the tax cuts he wants to push through to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies," warned People's Action. "He has ordered the government to round up innocent people off of the streets and put them in detention centers without due process because they dared to speak out using their First Amendment rights. And he is not close to being done—by his own admission, he is planning to run for a third term, which the Constitution does not allow."
Live stream of Hands Off rally in Washington, D.C.:
Below are photo or video dispatches from demonstrations around the world on Saturday. Check back for updates...
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Belgium:
Massachusetts:
Maine:
Washington, D.C.:
New York:
Minnesota:
Michigan:
Ohio:
Colorado:
Pennsylvania:
North Carolina:
The protest organizers warn that what Trump and Musk are up to "is not just corruption" and "not just mismanagement," but something far more sinister.
"This is a hostile takeover," they said, but vowed to fight back. "This is the moment where we say NO. No more looting, no more stealing, no more billionaires raiding our government while working people struggle to survive."
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