In a somewhat surprising turn Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to the fiscal 2017 funding bill for the Department of State striking language from the draft version that would prohibit the department from making contributions to the Green Climate Fund and instead setting aside $500 million for the fund. “While some of us would like to expend more, this is a real effort in bipartisan cooperation to present this amendment before the committee,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said of the amendment, which he co-sponsored with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), during the full committee markup
The United States is committed to contributing a total of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, and in March wrote a $500 million check to the program that caused an uproar in the Republican-controlled Congress. In the fiscal 2017 budget request, the administration requested $750 million for the Green Climate Fund. The March payment was the U.S.’s first to the funding mechanism.
The subcommittee draft of the bill, which was approved by the Appropriations State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee on Tuesday, included language that would have barred the State Department from submitting any payment to the Green Climate Fund.
For the current fiscal 2016, appropriators denied the administration’s request for funding earmarked for the fund, and the State Department instead had to submit payment via a loophole. The March payment was made using money from the Economic Support Fund accounts, which the department determined was allowed after reviewing the authorities and opportunities available, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Higginbottom explained during a March 8 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That fund “supports programming in lots of different countries to address a lot of issues related to economic growth and opportunity,” Higginbottom said.
Only one senator at Thursday’s full committee markup spoke against the amendment, which passed by voice vote. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she opposed the amendment “for a host of different reasons, not the least of which is the price tag associated.” She noted that in her state the effects of climate change are being felt, and some communities have either had to be, or will need to be, relocated due to rising sea levels. Murkowski stated she’s had trouble getting adequate help from the federal government to help her state and suggested that instead of sending significant funding abroad, it be used in the U.S.
The House version of the bill, the subcommittee markup of which has been postponed to a time yet to be determined, included language barring the department from submitting payments to the Green Climate Fund.
