Kerry knocks World Bank coal loan

The man at the center of an effort to draft climate legislation that can pass the Senate took a swipe at the World Bank on Friday for approving a $3.75 billion loan to build a coal plant in South Africa.

“There are better ways to promote urgent energy access in the developing world without exacerbating the looming threat of catastrophic climate change which will ultimately hit Africa and the developing world the hardest,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a statement released Friday morning.

“Moving forward, the World Bank should be leading the way by leveraging its funding and broad expertise to promote new, low carbon footprint energy sources that mitigate climate change.”

The U.S. abstained from the vote by the bank’s board of directors to provide South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom with funding for the 4,800 megawatt plant. Britain and the Netherlands also abstained, according to press reports.

Ben posted on this yesterday.