Coalition lobbies US Export-Import bank on Barrier Reef

(Sierra Club, Washington 11 February 2015) A coalition of scientists, business owners, Australian elected officials, and civil society groups from the U.S. and Australia -- including the Sierra Club and  Friends of the Earth U.S. -- sent a letter to U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) Chairman Fred Hochberg calling on the Bank to reject any proposal to finance Adani's massive Carmichael coal mine and associated railways and export terminals in Australia. If completed, coal from Australia’s Galilee Basin will be mined and transported by rail to the coast, where it will be shipped overseas through ports expanded by dredging three million tonnes of seabed from the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Reports indicate that Ex-Im is considering financing the project with U.S. tax dollars, contradicting the spirit of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and recent climate progress both in the U.S. and abroad.

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