House Passes Spending Bill, Omits Cash for World Bank Clean Technology Fund

The House passed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill last week that increases spending on domestic programs by an average of 8 percent. The omnibus plan comes more than four months after the fiscal year began in October 2008.

The House eliminated $400 million that the Bush administration had requested for the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund because several lawmakers complained of the bank's plan to allow some efficient coal-fired plants to be considered "clean" and receive public financing. It is unclear what the decision will mean for Japan, the United Kingdom and other nations that are beginning to make good on funding pledges. Instead, Congress gave $100 million to USAID for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, carbon sequestration and carbon accounting. In addition, lawmakers included $10 million for the U.N. Least Developed Countries Fund. While the U.N. Development Programme says that vulnerable nations need $86 billion annually to respond to the effects of climate change, the funding is noteworthy because it is the first time the United States will contribute to the U.N. to deal with climate change. Read more at E&E (sub'd req.)