{"id":18968,"date":"2024-03-13T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T15:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=18968"},"modified":"2024-04-03T11:42:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T15:42:41","slug":"democrats-warn-us-trade-bank-on-backing-bahrain-oil-drilling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/democrats-warn-us-trade-bank-on-backing-bahrain-oil-drilling\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Warn US Trade Bank on Backing Bahrain Oil Drilling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-03-13\/democrats-warn-us-trade-bank-on-backing-bahrain-oil-drilling?embedded-checkout=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Congressional Democrats are making a last-ditch appeal to leaders of the US Export-Import Bank before a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-02-08\/us-trade-bank-defies-biden-climate-pledge-backs-oil-drilling-in-bahrain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">critical vote<\/a>&nbsp;Thursday, warning the agency its plan to underwrite oil drilling in Bahrain would undercut global efforts to fight climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe world is in the midst of a climate crisis that is already having devastating impacts,\u201d the lawmakers, led by Senator&nbsp;Jeff Merkley&nbsp;of Oregon, said in a&nbsp;letter&nbsp;to bank board members and Biden administration officials. \u201cWe cannot afford to have ex-im undermine domestic and international climate progress by financing projects that worsen this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/green?re_source=postr_index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BloombergGreen<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-04-02\/white-house-snubs-gop-lng-policy-reversal-for-ukraine-aid-deal?re_source=postr_story_0\">White House Rejects&nbsp;Tying Ukraine Aid to Reversing Natural Gas Policy<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-04-03\/spring-storm-threatens-to-dump-18-inches-of-wet-snow-on-new-england?re_source=postr_story_1\">Spring Storm Threatens to Dump 18 Inches of Snow on New England<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-04-03\/chinese-solar-firms-hit-by-eu-probes-in-new-test-of-subsidy-law?re_source=postr_story_2\">Chinese Solar Firms Hit by EU Probes in New Test of Subsidy Law<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-04-03\/south-africa-ponders-fate-of-8-000-lions-and-3-000-skeletons?re_source=postr_story_3\">South Africa Ponders Fate of 8,000 Lions and 3,000 Skeletons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The missive comes amid intensifying scrutiny of how independent US agencies are addressing climate change \u2014 following a spate of decisions running counter to President&nbsp;Joe Biden\u2019s&nbsp;environmental agenda. The export-import bank has drawn particular ire for providing some<a href=\"http:\/\/priceofoil.org\/content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Glasgow-Policy-Violations-February-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;$901 million<\/a>&nbsp;in finance for fossil fuel projects last year, including a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-05-11\/biden-climate-pledge-undercut-by-export-import-bank-s-refinery-loan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refinery in Indonesia,<\/a>&nbsp;an oil venture in the Bahamas and gas turbines in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bank\u2019s board is set to vote on a potential loan of more than $100 million to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/acrobat.adobe.com\/link\/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:0dffc6fc-58a3-4ae5-bbad-93d4917023eb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expand oil and gas production<\/a>&nbsp;in the prolific Bahrain Field on Thursday. Potential&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exim.gov\/news\/minutes\/board-meeting-minutes-2024-02-08\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">beneficiaries<\/a>&nbsp;include the oil services company&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/quote\/SLB:US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SLB<\/a>, as well as the field\u2019s operator, National Oil and Gas Holding Company B.S.C. unit Tatweer Petroleum-Bahrain Field Development Company W.L.L.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ex-im bank is an independent agency intended to bolster US exports, thereby supporting American jobs. Its charter bars denying financing \u201cbased solely on the industry, sector or business\u201d \u2014 a prohibition congressional Republicans have admonished the bank to heed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet the bank\u2019s charter also empowers it to deny financing for projects based on environmental concerns, said Merkley and the other lawmakers, including Senator&nbsp;Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and Representative&nbsp;Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. The \u201cnon-discrimination provisions do not supersede the charter\u2019s environmental policies and procedures,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Agency staff review transactions according to its statutory and policy requirements \u2014 including to ensure alignment with the bank\u2019s environmental and social due diligence procedures and guidelines, a senior ex-im bank official said. If a transaction satisfies all of the bank\u2019s eligibility criteria, the agency is prevented from discriminating against deals solely on the basis of industry, sector or business, the official said.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, the International Energy Agency said the world must halt investment in new oil and gas projects to reach net zero emissions by mid-century. Biden vowed to curb public funding of foreign fossil fuel projects in an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2021\/01\/27\/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">orden ejecutiva<\/a>&nbsp;three years ago, and the US later signed a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ukcop26.org\/statement-on-international-public-support-for-the-clean-energy-transition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pledge<\/a>&nbsp;with 33 other nations to halt that support. Biden in January halted new licenses to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-01-26\/biden-freezes-approvals-to-export-gas-imperiling-major-projects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;export liquefied natural gas<\/a>, allowing for fresh analysis of the climate impact.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bloomberg Congressional Democrats are making a last-ditch appeal to leaders of the US Export-Import Bank before a&nbsp;critical vote&nbsp;Thursday, warning the agency its plan to underwrite oil drilling in Bahrain would undercut global efforts to fight climate change. \u201cThe world is in the midst of a climate crisis that is already having devastating impacts,\u201d the lawmakers, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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