Senator Schmitt, Rep Luetkemeyer Introduce the No Tax Dollars for the United Nations Climate Agenda Act
WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Eric Schmitt and Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) introduced the No Tax Dollars for the UN Climate Agenda Act, which would bar President Biden from allocating taxpayer dollars to the United Nations Green Climate Fund:
“We cannot allow Biden to continue throwing billions of taxpayer dollars towards a useless fund that purports to solve climate change in developing countries, but is actually sending billions to countries like China. Biden’s radical climate agenda is not just virtue signaling anymore, it’s now coming to fruition by allocating Americans’ hard-earned money to a UN fund that will neither help nor solve anything. There is absolutely no reason that taxpayer money should go into a climate alarmism slush fund that doles out money to our greatest adversary. Enough is enough,” said Senator Eric Schmitt.
“American taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for an organization that has no proven track record of success, often engages in skeptical science, and over which we have very little control. I encourage my colleagues to support this effort and prevent the use of federal tax dollars to fund corruption and a radical climate-change agenda,” Rep. Luetkemeyer said.
“The Biden administration is using Montanans’ hard-earned tax dollars to create a climate slush fund that benefits our adversaries, including China. As if the Left’s radical green agenda isn’t bad enough, this abuse of taxpayer funds is unacceptable and it must be stopped,” said Senator Steve Daines.
Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tim Scott (R-SC), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Mike Lee (R-UT), and Representatives Mark Alford (MO-4), Eric Burlison (MO-7), Ann Wagner (MO-2), and Sam Graves (MO-6) co-sponsored the legislation.
BACKGROUND:
· The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to fund various climate projects and programs in developing countries. Funding for the GCF is primarily provided by member nations of the UN, and as the primary donor nation to the UN, the U.S. has contributed $5 billion to the GCF – far and wide the most of any member nation.
o China is one of these nations considered to be a developing country, and received an initial $100 million for a project from the GCF.
o China has given a total of $0 to the GCF.
· The Department of State is supposed to use Economic Support Funds to strengthen independent judiciaries, protect human rights and freedom of the press, combat human trafficking and corruption, increase public accountability and access to justice, and fight terrorism. Yet, the State Department under Joe Biden is instead using the funding for the radical UN climate agenda that helps fund China.
o The Biden Administration’s Department of State gave $1 billion in mid-April to the fund, and it is expected that Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent announcement of $3 billion will be from the same funding source.
· The No Tax Dollars for the UN Climate Agenda Act will require that no funds made available to any federal department or agency may be used to make assessed or voluntary contributions on behalf of the United States to or for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Agenda, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or the Green Climate Fund.
