(Bloomberg, Washington, 25 June 2013) President Barack Obama pledged to end U.S. government financing of overseas coal projects, a promise that could end millions of dollars in support for power plants in nations such as Vietnam and India. As part of a “Climate Action Plan” released today, Obama called for ending U.S. support of foreign coal-fired power plants, unless they are in the poorest nations or have expensive carbon-capture technology. “This is an important move to stand up and say, ‘Coal is not an acceptable fuel source for the 21st century,’” Justin Guay, a Washington representative for the Sierra Club, said in an interview. “It’s a really strong political signal.” … Until now, Obama’s push to double exports of U.S. goods and services had conflicted with his environmental goal of reducing the greenhouse gases linked to climate change, as the U.S.- backed Export-Import Bank had expanded financing that, by its own accounting, led to more and more greenhouse-gas emissions. Other NGOs and environmental groups have said Obama’s policies don’t go far enough.
