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The Washington Post, Tuesday, August 27, 2002; Page
A03
Export Agencies Sued Over Warming
Two environmental groups and the city of Boulder, Colo.,
plan to file a lawsuit today charging two federal
agencies with contributing to climate change through
their financing policies.
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the city said they
are filing the suit in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco on behalf of "members and citizens who are
victims of global warming." The action is against the Export-Import
Bank, an independent federal agency that helps finance the sale of
U.S. exports, and the Overseas Private Investment Corp., which
provides government- backed insurance and loans to help U.S.
businesses compete in emerging markets.
A statement from Friends of the Earth said that the two agencies
provided "over $32 billion in financing and insurance for oil fields,
pipelines and coal-fired power plants over the past 10 years without
assessing their contribution to global warming and their impact on the
U.S. environment." The groups said such assessments are
required by law.
Boulder's city council voted to join the lawsuit. Mayor Will Toor said
the city's environmental efforts will be hurt by climate change and called
the suit "one way to force the federal government to start paying
attention."
OPIC spokesman Lawrence Spinelli said the agency "considers protecting
the environment to be a top priority as we decide which projects to support."
The Export-Import Bank spokesman Bo Ollison said the bank is committed
to procedures to "ensure that our support of transactions is not
used for environmentally detrimental projects."
Jon Sohn, Friends of the Earth
US
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