Projects Threatening GBR Not To Be Funded

A coalition of scientists, business owners, Australian elected officials, and civil society groups from the U.S. and Australia, including the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth U.S., have sent a letter to U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) Chairman Fred Hochberg calling on the Bank to reject any proposal to finance Adani’s coal mine, railways and export terminals in Australia.

If completed, coal from Australia’s Galilee Basin will be mined and transported by rail to the coast, where it will be shipped overseas through ports expanded by dredging three million tonnes of seabed from the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR).

Reports indicate that Ex-Im is considering financing the project with U.S. tax dollars, contradicting the spirit of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and recent climate progress both in the U.S. and abroad.

The recent January 31 election in the State of Queensland saw the biggest swing against a first term government in Australia since 1955. The Greens achieved their highest ever Queensland election result, and Labor is now forming a government, after that party pledged to prevent any dredge spoil from being dumped in the World Heritage Area or nearby wetlands and to reverse the billions in tax breaks and tax dollar support the previous government promised Adani.