A Senate panel took aim at President Obama’s climate change agenda Tuesday by prohibiting funds from going to a key program under last year’s Paris climate deal.
The Green Climate Fund has become a prime target for Republican lawmakers seeking to undermine the president’s goal of combating climate change by supporting last December’s United Nations climate agreement that the U.S. signed onto.
The green fund, once fully functional, would provide at least $100 billion a year from the U.S. and other developed nations to help small, developing countries cope with the effects of climate change.
On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s foreign operations panel passed a $52 billion spending bill that included language baring the use of federal dollars for the green fund. The bill would fund several State Department programs.
The spending bill explicitly states that it “includes a prohibition on funds from this or prior acts being used for grants, assistance, or contributions to the Green Climate Fund.”
The Obama administration has already sent $500 million from State Department accounts to the United Nations to be used for the fund. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., has led the charge against the fund, saying the distribution made to the green fund is illegal under foreign spending rules.
The bill was approved by the foreign operations subcommittee Tuesday without much opposition from Democrats, who support the green fund.
Nevertheless, the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said members would likely look to amend the bill at Wednesday’s full committee markup.
The foreign operations spending bill focuses the State Department on fighting extremism while reiterating support for Israel, according to the foreign operations panel’s chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“The world is in turmoil, and the funding in this bill is essential to furthering American interests abroad, protecting our diplomats and development specialists on the front lines, and supporting our key allies,” Graham said.
The bill includes a $300 million increase in security funding for Israel, Graham said. “We have no better friend than Israel, and they are in the middle of the toughest neighborhood in the world.”
