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The Obama administration wrote a second check for $500 million on Tuesday to the Green Climate Fund, an international organization designed to help the developing world adapt to global warming and deploy more clean energy technologies. 。
The announcement from the State Department comes less than three days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. During the campaign, Trump vowed to choke off all U.S. funding for international global warming programs. 。
The most recent check from the Obama administration now brings total U.S. contributions to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) so far to $1 billion.。
SEE ALSO:Binge-watching is going to make your carbon footprint soar 。The funding for the GCF fulfills a pledge the U.S. first made as part of the U.N. climate talks beginning in 2009, when developed nations committed to spending $100 billion to assist the developing world, which is already reeling from the effects of climate change, like rising sea levels, scorching droughts and deadly floods. 。
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This funding commitment helped make the Paris Climate Agreement -- which went into effect in November of last year -- possible since the industrialized world is responsible for the majority of human-caused climate change-to-date. 。Via Giphy 。
Via Giphy 。
In 2014, the U.S. committed $3 billion toward the fund, but Congress refused to appropriate the money. 。
However, Congress didn't prevent funds from simply going toward the program, either. So, in a bureaucratic end run, the Obama administration directed money that had been appropriated through other legislation to be used for the Green Climate Fund. 。
Republicans on Capitol Hill have denounced such spending, alleging the administration is flouting congressional authority.。
They will soon have an ally in a Trump administration, which has put forward a nominee for secretary of state, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who says climate change is not a top national security threat to the U.S. and repeatedly refused to commit to keeping the U.S. within the Paris Climate Agreement during his confirmation hearing. 。
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