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State Treasurer Riley Moore today criticized the U.S. Treasury’s new guidance for international multilateral development banks, which seeks to cut off investment in fossil fuel projects in countries around the world.

“President Biden and his liberal allies have been trying to pick winners and losers in the U.S. energy markets for years, now they want to cut off some of the poorest countries in the world from access to cheap, abundant supplies of energy and prevent U.S. companies from investing and doing business in international markets,” Treasurer Moore said. “Imposing a radical woke agenda in America wasn’t enough, now they want to impose it on the world.”

The U.S. Treasury last Monday issued new guidance to international multilateral development banks – which are government-partnered institutions that finance investment projects around the world – that would cut off funding for oil, natural gas and coal projects and instead “prioritize clean energy, innovation, and energy efficiency.” The U.S. Treasury is the largest shareholder in several multilateral development banks, including the World Bank Group and African Development Bank.

Among its provisions, the guidance states:

  • Opposition to coal. We will oppose new coal-based projects. We may consider coal decommissioning projects so long as they do not expand the capacity of a plant or extend its life.”
  • Opposition to oil. We will oppose oil-based energy projects. There may be limited exceptions, such as oil-based power generation in crisis circumstances or as backup for off-grid clean energy, if no cleaner options are feasible.”
  • The guidance also opposes any upstream natural gas development – including new drilling and fracking – and provides only narrow support for mid- and downstream natural gas projects so long as certain conditions are met, including those of the Paris Climate Accords.

“It’s bad enough that this administration has been working to cut off domestic financing for coal, oil and natural gas projects – now they want to do this across the globe as well,” Treasurer Moore said. “Meanwhile, countries like China are ramping up their development of coal and other fossil fuels because they know they are cheap and abundant sources of energy.”

Treasurer Moore also pointed out the new guidance was issued just a short time after President Biden had asked OPEC+ to produce more oil in an attempt to lower gasoline prices.

“This administration is trying to tell the world to bend to its woke agenda, while asking OPEC countries and Russia to pump more oil,” Treasurer Moore said. “We need to return to the days of American energy independence – which we had under President Trump – and stop diminishing U.S. power in pursuit of a radical ideologies.”

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