U.S. spending bill does not block climate fund payment
Source: Reuters
Politics | Wed Dec 16, 2015 11:59am EST
U.S. spending bill does not block climate fund payment
WASHINGTON | BY VALERIE VOLCOVICI
The U.S. State Department will be able to deliver its first payment of $500 million to the United Nations Green Climate Fund, after lawmakers agreed on a federal fiscal deal that does not include language to block it.
In the months leading up to the U.N. climate change summit in Paris, which concluded on Saturday with a landmark deal putting 195 countries on a path to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, Republicans in Congress vowed to block U.S. climate aid.
The United States last year pledged $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund, to be used by poor and climate-vulnerable countries to adopt cleaner energy technologies and build their resistance against the impact of climate change.
Opponents of a U.N. climate deal threatened to block federal funds for climate aid, arguing that Congress first needs to scrutinize the Paris agreement before it releases funds.
But congressional negotiators on Tuesday wrapped up a sprawling deal to keep the U.S. government operating through next September, while setting new policies, including repealing a 40-year-old ban on oil exports in exchange for a multi-year extension of wind and solar tax credits.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-congress-idUSKBN0TZ2ED20151216
