Congress Snubs Bush Plan For $10 Billion "Clean Tech" Fund - Administed By Coal-Lovin' World Bank

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A planned $10 billion global fund for cleaner emissions technology backed by the Bush administration drew a skeptical bipartisan response from members of Congress and environmentalists on Thursday. David McCormick, the U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, explained the plan to a U.S. House of Representatives panel, noting the Bush administration has asked Congress to commit $2 billion to the fund over three years. The commitment for fiscal 2009 would be $400 million.

"What about the money?" asked U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican and presidential candidate. "Has anybody considered how we're going to pay for this?" The fund would be administered by the World Bank, a fact that drew criticism from some lawmakers and other witnesses before a House panel on monetary policy, trade and technology.

"The World Bank has not compiled a record that most environmentalists approve of in its general operation," said Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. "It's like they do their environmental work one day a month and then they undo it. ... The World Bank should not be funding projects that would go counter to a concern for clean technology."

EDIT

Brent Blackwelder of the environmental group Friends of the Earth was dubious about the World Bank's commitment to clean energy technologies, noting the bank has recently made loans for coal plants that are only marginally less dirty than the dirtiest. "Having looked at and tried to convince the World Bank to shift the energy lending over 25 years into newer (energy) technologies that countries actually wanted, they have refused and continue to this day to fund very damaging projects," Blackwelder said.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-fund.html

[crikkett]

1. Because we just haven't ruined the planet _enough_.