Biden orders U.S. to stop financing new carbon-intense projects abroad

(Reuters, Washington, 10 December 2021) The Biden administration has ordered U.S. government agencies to immediately stop financing new carbon-intensive fossil fuel projects overseas and prioritize global collaborations to deploy clean energy technology, according to U.S. diplomatic cables seen by Reuters. However, “This policy is full of exemptions and loopholes that lack clarity, and could render these restrictions on fossil fuel financing completely meaningless,” said Kate DeAngelis, a climate finance expert at Friends of the Earth. FOEUS notees that while the policy states that “infrastructure directly related to the production, transportation, or use of fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas, are considered ‘carbon-intensive international energy engagements,’” it then defines “carbon-intensive” using metrics (i.e., kWh) that appear to only apply to electrical generation (i.e., power plants), not production, transportation, or mid-stream like LNG.