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Biden Must Act Now to End US Funds for Fossil Fuels Abroad
With an incoming Trump administration ready to bend to the will of the fossil fuel industry, the Biden administration cannot afford to miss this opportunity to secure its climate legacy.
Nov 14, 2024
The Biden administration is running out of time to fulfill its promises to stop using U.S. taxpayer dollars to finance fossil fuel projects overseas. And, as Donald Trump is about to assume the presidency, this is one of the final chances for President Joe Biden to cement his climate legacy.
On November 18, member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will meet to consider a proposal to end support from export credit agencies (ECAs) for fossil fuels. This proposal not only has the ability to change the course of the climate crisis by shifting $41 billion USD per year globally out of oil and gas, but is the final opportunity for the outgoing Biden administration to fulfill its pledges made through the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, the International Climate Finance Plan, Executive Order on the Climate Crisis, and via G7 statements in 2022 and 2024.
Since May of 2023, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM)—our country’s ECA—has approved $2.2 billion in new oil-, gas-, and coal-related projects overseas, including a $500 million loan for an oil and gas drilling project in Bahrain. Additionally, EXIM is considering financing dangerous projects like Mozambique LNG and Papua LNG. With a recent report finding that EXIM was considering financing international fossil fuel projects with lifetime emissions equivalent to roughly 80% of the annual fossil fuel carbon dioxide-equivalent output of the entire United States (or 1,300 coal-fired power plants), this proposal is a critical action President Biden can still take to reduce harmful emissions, stop EXIM from financing dangerous fossil fuel projects abroad, and follow through on his commitments.
President Biden’s reputation as our country’s most pro-climate president is on the line.
The climate crisis has reached a critical point, and it’s unconscionable to keep funneling taxpayer dollars into reckless fossil fuel projects overseas. We are already paying the price for this ongoing investment in fossil fuels—facing record-breaking floods, devastating storms, and deadly extreme weather. The escalating severity of these climate disasters must be a wake-up call our leaders can no longer ignore: Taxpayer financing for overseas fossil fuel projects must end now. And, the support for this climate action is strong: Over 250 civil society organizations have called on OECD member states to end public oil and gas funding.
OECD member states as a whole send $41 billion annually to fossil fuel projects despite the blatant need for a swift transition to clean energy, and the Biden administration’s failure to put forward a position—despite pledging to do this numerous times—has led to deadlock and inaction. The billions of dollars per year that EXIM provides for fossil fuels could be shifted away from fossil fuels to renewable energy projects and be presented as part of a climate finance package at COP29. With the clock ticking for his administration, President Biden must agree to end public financing of foreign fossil fuels via EXIM, follow through on past commitments, and show global climate leadership at COP29 and beyond.
As one of the world’s largest emitters, the United States must use this opportunity to reach our global clean energy agreements and hold ourselves and the rest of the international community accountable for keeping goals such as 1.5°C alive. This meeting is a chance for redemption, to set a global example, and to allow the Biden administration to keep its promise from Glasgow. Taking advantage of this moment will ensure that the progress made over the past four years cannot be undone, will help reduce global emissions, and will help at home by safeguarding tax dollars and fortifying the Biden administration’s record of protecting communities from the climate crisis.
President Biden’s reputation as our country’s most pro-climate president is on the line. With an incoming Trump administration ready to bend to the will of the fossil fuel industry, the Biden administration cannot afford to miss this opportunity to commit the United States to ending taxpayer funding for fossil fuel projects abroad. This decision should not be a difficult one—and we hope that the Biden administration agrees to put communities both here and abroad and the climate over fossil fuel industry interests.
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Fury Over $500 Million US Export-Import Bank Loan to Bahrain 'Climate Bomb'
"This approval signals another setback for Biden's climate commitments, and cements the United States yet again as the worst of the laggard countries in violation of the promise to end international public finance for fossil fuels," one campaigner said.
Mar 15, 2024
Despite a Biden administration pledge to stop backing international fossil fuel projects by 2022, the U.S. Export-Import Bank announced Thursday that it would provide a $500 million loan for oil and gas expansion in Bahrain.
The funding marks the fifth time that EXIM has chosen to back a fossil fuel project abroad since President Joe Biden joined the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) at the United Nations COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.
"EXIM's decision to approve the Bahrain oil and gas project is another alarming step in the wrong direction for climate action, as the bank goes rogue and continues to defy President Biden's promises," Nina Pušic, an export finance climate strategist at Oil Change International, said in a statement, adding that the project was a "huge climate bomb paid for by the American taxpayer."
"This is the wrong decision. Our health, planet, and future are at stake—the U.S. must stop financing oil and gas expansion."
Signatories to CETP vowed to "end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022" and instead shift financing toward renewable energy projects. Yet an Oil Change analysis published in September found that countries including the U.S. continued to back fossil fuel projects after signing.
According to that analysis, the U.S. had approved the largest number of projects after the CETP's 2022 deadline to stop funding oil, gas, and coal. What's more, counting Thursday's $500 million, the EXIM has funded fossil fuel projects to the tune of $1.3 billion since the cut-off date.
"This approval signals another setback for Biden's climate commitments, and cements the United States yet again as the worst of the laggard countries in violation of the promise to end international public finance for fossil fuels," Pušic said.
In its announcement, EXIM said that the money, lent to Bahrain's semi-independent Bapco Energies, would support around 2,100 jobs in Texas and other U.S. states and "was not expected to result in a meaningful increase in oil and gas production." The bank pointed out that Bapco Energies had signed the COP28 Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, promising net-zero operations by 2050 and an end to flaring by 2030.
"This transaction will support thousands of U.S. jobs and play a crucial role in ensuring Bapco Energies is able to achieve its climate goals of enhanced grid interconnectivity, more efficiency, decarbonization, and investments in large-scale solar projects," EXIM President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis said in a statement.
However, EXIM told Congress when it first announced the potential funding that the project would create more than 400 new oil wells and 30 new gas wells, Reuters reported.
The announcement came two days after Democratic and Independent lawmakers led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sent a letter to the bank urging it not to fund the project "because of its negative impacts on the climate."
In the letter, the legislators pointed to the International Energy Agency's assessment that any new oil, gas, and coal investment was incompatible with the Paris agreement goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C. Further, they noted that Congress had stipulated that EXIM should review the environmental and climate impact of projects when it reauthorized its charter in 2019.
"The world is in the midst of a climate crisis that is already having devastating impacts on millions of people across the globe," the letter concluded. "We cannot afford to have EXIM undermine domestic and international climate progress by financing projects that worsen this crisis. We urge you to take EXIM's mandate to consider the environmental impacts of projects seriously, and to start by disapproving new funding for oil and gas drilling in Bahrain."
"The United States has lost any credibility it had as a climate leader, and instead has proven to be led by forces like EXIM to prop up a dying industry while simultaneously killing its own people."
Instead of heeding the lawmakers' request, EXIM approved five times the amount of funds it had initially told Congress is was considering.
"We can't tackle climate chaos and lead the globe to a renewable energy economy if we keep greenlighting fossil energy of the past," Merkley said on social media in response to the news. "This is the wrong decision. Our health, planet, and future are at stake—the U.S. must stop financing oil and gas expansion."
The move comes as younger voters have warned Biden that he should double-down on climate friendly policies to encourage youth turnout in the 2024 presidential election. Writing in Common Dreams on Thursday, Noa Greene-Houvras, a 17-year-old climate activist with Fridays for Future NYC, encouraged the president to stand up to EXIM and back an OECD proposal to end the support of export credit agencies for oil and gas projects.
In a separate statement, Greene-Houvras said: "We are horrified at the decision to send $500 million to new oil projects in Bahrain. The United States has lost any credibility it had as a climate leader, and instead has proven to be led by forces like EXIM to prop up a dying industry while simultaneously killing its own people."
"As youth we are watching our future slip away, engulfed by fire and flood," Greene-Houvras continued, adding "We are both terrified and baffled at this decision making process, and we will not let this stand."
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Biden Must Do Much More to Win Over Young Climate Voters
Biden must end the flow of public money to fossil fuels, sending a clear statement to voters that he is the candidate who will stand up to fossil fuels, and stand up for our future.
Mar 14, 2024
I turn 18 just in time for the 2024 election, and I know that the stakes are higher than ever. It’s not just a contest between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump; it’s a choice between the only person who can lead the U.S.’ much-needed energy transition and a criminal who’s promised to systematically dismantle environmental protections and our democracy.
As a climate activist the choice should be easy, but my peers aren’t jumping for joy at the prospect of casting a vote for Biden. While the Inflation Reduction Act was a step in the right direction, we’ve also witnessed a string of new oil and gas projects, watered-down language, and broken promises. Biden must do much more to win over young climate voters ahead of this year’s election, and he can start by keeping his promise to stop public money flowing into fossil fuels.
A record number of young people voted in the 2020 election, with as much as 10% increases in young voter turnout across key battleground states like Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia. This year, Harvard polling has predicted a lower level of youth turnout, which could be potentially fatal for the Biden-Harris administration. To win, Biden needs a strong turnout from young voters. The White House is now on an all-out offensive to charm young climate voters like me, recently setting up a TikTok page and inviting a group of young climate influencers to the White House.
Youth can help transform the Biden campaign into a powerful political movement, but we are not willing to compromise on the climate crisis.
Despite his efforts to connect with us, Biden’s climate hypocrisy is a line many of us aren’t willing to cross. Last year, Biden approved the Willow project, going directly against his promise to end fossil fuel projects on public land and water. This caused outrage in many youth circles.
The promise-breaking goes beyond Willow. In 2021, the Biden administration and 33 other governments signed up to the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, promising to end international public finance for fossil fuels by the end of 2022. But in the last year alone, the U.S. channeled almost $1 billion into new oil and gas, through the U.S. Export-Import Bank, EXIM. Next week, the EXIM board is voting on a major oil and project in Bahrain. If it is approved, at least $100 million U.S. tax dollars will go toward over 400 new oil wells, contrary to Biden’s fossil fuel pledges.
Export credit agencies like EXIM are government-owned institutions that provide financial services to large infrastructure projects around the world. They are also the world’s largest international public funders of fossil fuels. Each year, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries’ export credit agencies provide over $40 billion of public money to fossil fuels—five times their support for clean energy.
This must stop. With our planet and our democracy in the balance, President Biden needs to fund a just energy transition. It’s not an accident that the largest climate march since the pandemic took place in September last year—young people are fighting for better. To win the youth climate vote, Biden must end the flow of public money to fossil fuels, sending a clear statement to voters that he is the candidate who will stand up to fossil fuels, and stand up for our future. This will get the youth vote out much more than a 30-second TikTok ever could.
This week, the OECD is meeting in Paris to discuss groundbreaking proposals to stop export credit agency support for oil and gas. It’s one of Biden’s last chances to prove himself as a climate leader, and the U.S. will play a critical role. Biden can either support the proposals and put a stop to EXIM, or choose to continue plunging public money into coal, oil, and gas.
Youth can help transform the Biden campaign into a powerful political movement, but we are not willing to compromise on the climate crisis. Many of us grew up believing we would “one day” see the effects of climate change, but in the last year, my education has been stalled or stopped due to flooding and extreme smoke multiple times. I refuse to vote away my health, my community, and my safety.
Our democracy is incredibly fragile, deeply worth protecting, and impressively resilient, much like our planet. I will cast my first-ever vote for Joe Biden, but to get a record youth turnout he needs to do more. Next week, Biden has an opportunity to build momentum from his pause in new LNG permits and match his promises with action, ending the flow of U.S. public money into fossil fuels for good. In the meantime, I will continue to pressure Biden to listen to young people, because I refuse to choose between my future and my vote.
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