Big Coal wants to build a massive power plant on the edge of the UNESCO-protected mangrove forests of Bangladesh -- home to just 106 endangered Bengal tigers. And the US government could be considering financing the whole disastrous project.

The US has pledged to move away from coal power, for obvious reasons. It’s a filthy energy source and massive contributor to climate change, and the global market for coal has plummeted. But apparently, the US Export-Import bank, supported by our taxes, doesn’t have a problem investing in coal if it happens far from our borders.

The World Bank has called Bangladesh the country most vulnerable to climate change. Yet here we have our taxpayers’ dollars set to export American pollution to the place that is least able to weather it.

There is no way this coal plant can be built. Demand that US tax dollars don’t fund pollution abroad.

While the hypocrisy alone should be enough to make the US EXIM bank embarrassed to support this project, this is not just another coal power plant. The coal plant will be located just 14 km from the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. Apart from protecting the Bengal, the Sundarbans is also home to the Irrawaddy dolphin and furnishes the livelihoods of nearly 6 million people.

We’re not alone. Our partners worldwide have been supporting Bangladeshis on the ground as they fight for the right to clean air and forests. In fact, in large part to our partners’ work, US EXIM rejected a financing application for another coal plant from the same corporation elsewhere in Bangladesh. And of course, SumOfUs knows how to fight Big Coal: The ginormous Carmichael coal mine in Australia is essentially dead because we made it impossible for its parent corporation to find financing.

Tell the US EXIM Bank to reject financing for the Orion-Khuna coal plant.

More information