There’s no getting around the topic of CO2 now. Everywhere
you turn, you are hearing about it. No one can get away with not discussing it,
which is the way it should be. We need to make our world healthier and cleaner
for all. Businesses and consumers. The latest evidence of this is in what
happened this week when two U.S. agencies agreed to address carbon dioxide
emissions when financing overseas oil and gas projects. This settles a lawsuit
brought by environmentalists and four local governments.
Under the agreement, the Export-Import Bank must begin
accounting for CO2 emissions when evaluating fossil-fuel projects and will
create an organization-wide carbon policy, and the Overseas Private Investment
Corp. (OPIC) must set a goal to reduce major projects' emissions by 20 percent.
Both agencies must also commit to increase funding for
renewable energy projects.
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Boulder, Colo., sued the
agencies in 2002, accusing them of violating the National Environmental Policy
Act by providing more than $32 billion for fossil-fuel projects without
assessing their impacts on climate change. Three California cities joined the
lawsuit in 2006.
Fossil-fuel projects funded by the agencies between 1990 and
2003 produced the equivalent of nearly 8 percent of global CO2 emissions, the
groups said.
"This settlement is a substantial victory for our
climate," said Michelle Chan, senior policy analyst at Friends of the
Earth. "It will force federal agencies to move away from fossil fuel
projects and account for the climate impacts of their lending."
Phil Cogan, a spokesman for the Export-Import Bank, said the
agency was pleased with the settlement. "The actions that we have agreed
to take extend the efforts in promoting the environmentally friendly exports
and concern for the environment that we've been leading the other exporters in
since the early 1990s," he said.
That’s funny, I wonder why he didn’t take that posture
during 1990 – 2003 when he was busy polluting the earth? Seems like he had no
choice. It’s unfortunate that advocacy groups have to sue in order to get these
large organizations to change behavior. In the future, let’s hope it’s
different, that we are led by individuals who have more concern for the earth,
for its people, for our grandchildren and for nature than the almighty dollar.
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