The U.S. District Court in San Francisco will hear oral arguments today, in a precedent-setting case challenging taxpayer-funded projects that cause climate change. Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the cities of Boulder, Clorado and Oakland, Santa Monica and Arcata, California have all filed the suit on behalf of their members and citizens against two U.S. government agencies - the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
The suit asserts that OPIC and Ex-Im breached the law when they
financed more than $32 billion in projects without assessing their
contribution to global warming or impact on the environment as
required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Key
provisions of NEPA require all federal agencies to conduct an
assessment of programs and project-specific decisions that have a
significant effect on the human environment.
"The claim by the Bush administration lawyers that pollution
from these projects is not having an impact is reminiscent of an
era when tobacco scientists stated that smoking didn't cause cancer
and got away with it," said Kert Davies, Research Director of
Greenpeace.
The projects, which were approved during the past 10 years,
include oil fields, pipelines and coal-fired power plants and
account for 32 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or
eight percent of worldwide GHG emissions annually. Projects include
many of the largest new oil field developments in South America,
Mexico, the Caspian region and Southeast Asia. Companies that have
benefited from Ex-Im and OPIC funding include Exxon, Halliburton
and Enron.
In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency released a report
on the growing domestic impacts of global warming. According to the
report, changes over the next few decades are expected to put
southeastern coastal communities at greater risk of storm surges,
prompt more severe heat waves, and reduce snowpack and water
supplies in the West.
Jerry Brown, mayor of the City of Oakland and a plaintiff in the
case, stated, "Tragically, the federal government is violating
federal law, which requires an assessment of cumulative impacts.
This injures the citizens of Oakland, and every person in this
country. We'll fight as long as it takes to get federal law
properly enforced."
Other contacts: Kert Davies, Greenpeace, 202-413-8515
Randy Hayes, Officer of Mayor Jerry Brown, City of Oakland, 415-305-7300
Jane Kochersperger, Greenpeace Media Officer, 202-415-5477
Ron Shems, Counsel, 802-224-6245
David Waskow, Friends of the Earth, 202-222-0716
Exp. contact date: 2005-05-29 00:00:00