Democrats Warn US Trade Bank on Backing Bahrain Oil Drilling
- Export-Import Bank set to vote on financing project Thursday
- Venture would undermine climate progress, lawmakers say
Pumpjacks in the oil fields of Sakhir, Bahrain.
Photographer: Mazen Mahdi/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Congressional Democrats are making a last-ditch appeal to leaders of the US Export-Import Bank before a critical vote Thursday, warning the agency its plan to underwrite oil drilling in Bahrain would undercut global efforts to fight climate change.
“The world is in the midst of a climate crisis that is already having devastating impacts,” the lawmakers, led by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, said in a to bank board members and Biden administration officials. “We cannot afford to have ex-im undermine domestic and international climate progress by financing projects that worsen this crisis.”