Thirty-five Years Of Unconventional Wisdom
NEWS RELEASE	Contacts: Daphne Wysham, Institute for Policy Studies (202) 234-9382 ext. 208 Jon Sohn, Friends of the Earth (202) 783-7400 ext. 226

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, April 28, 1999

OPIC And EX-IM Fuel Climate Change:
Report Exposes U.S. Government's Hypocrisy in 
Supporting Fossil Fuels Abroad

Washington, DC – A new report by Friends of the Earth and the Institute for Policy Studies reveals that the U.S. Government, through the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), supports an alarming number of greenhouse gas emitting projects abroad. These projects are funded in apparent violation of U.S. law and contradict U.S. foreign policy objectives which seek to reduce developing country reliance on fossil fuels in order to avert the worst effects of climate change.

“Business as Usual?” a new report released by the Institute for Policy Studies and Friends of the Earth reveals that from 1992-98, Ex-Im and OPIC cumulatively underwrote $23.2 billion in financing for oil, gas and coal projects around the world; these projects will, over their lifetimes, release 25.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This figure is roughly equivalent to all global carbon dioxide emissions for 1996.

While the Senate's Byrd-Hagel Resolution has advised the Clinton Administration to take no action under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions until key developing countries (such as India and China) also take such action, the U.S. Government, via Ex-Im and OPIC, are nonetheless continuing to fund dirty coal-fired power plants and oil & gas extraction projects in sensitive ecosystems in developing countries and other countries around the world.

“OPIC and Ex-Im are guaranteeing climate change for all of us,” said Daphne Wysham, Energy Policy Analyst with the Institute for Policy Studies. “Money talks. And our billions of dollars in support for fossil fuels are out-talking—and totally contradicting—our stated foreign policy goals of `meaningful participation' by developing countries under the Kyoto Protocol.

“OPIC and Ex-Im should shift 20% of their funds for power and energy toward environmentally sustainable renewables in the developing world. It is hypocritical for the U.S. Government to ask for meaningful participation of developing countries while simultaneously funneling billions of taxpayer dollars towards the opposite goal. The Clinton Administration should develop a credible framework for OPIC and Ex-Im's role in combating climate change,” said Jon Sohn, International Policy Analyst at Friends of the Earth-US.

While scrupulously documenting every fossil fuel project supported by Ex-Im and OPIC over six years, “Business As Usual?” also provides concrete recommendations to help these agencies develop specific and meaningful plans to work with developing countries and economies in transition toward the development of clean, renewable energy. The report also asserts that these agencies must move out of funding environmentally destructive greenhouse gas-emitting projects, or be in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

“This report shows that our government agencies, Ex-Im and OPIC, are apparently in violation of U.S. environmental regulations, working at cross-purposes with our stated foreign policy goals, and are doing everything possible to ensure the `business as usual' approach- - an approach of rapid climate change which none of us can afford- - is the road taken,” said IPS's Wysham. 

###

Back to the Top