Ex-Im rejecting power plant deal sparks concern

Ex-Im rejecting power plant deal sparks concern    A U.S. export advocacy group on Tuesday expressed 'serious concerns' over the U.S. Export-Import Bank's rejection last week of the Reliance Power application for $650 million in financing to build a coal-fired power plant in India.
   The bank opposed the application stating that it would violate the agency's carbon emissions standards.
   The Washington-based Coalition for Employment Through Exports (CEE) said the application rejection by the Ex-Im Bank runs counter to the Obama administration's National Export Initiative.
   'Given that India will surely use its domestic coal resources for the development of its electricity generation system, the decision by Ex-Im, without any complementary effort by the administration to proactively work with the Indian government to utilize clean coal or CCS technologies, represents a failure by the administration to take steps in a significant market to preserve U.S. jobs and keep the door open to the export of U.S. equipment and technologies,' warned CEE President John Hardy Jr., in a statement.
   The affected U.S. company, Bucyrus, said Ex-Im Bank's decision will cost it jobs and the opportunity for involvement in other projects.
   'A more proactive approach, such as proposing to commit Ex-Im funds to the sector conditioned on the usage of clean coal technologies, would better support jobs and the environment,' Hardy said. 'If the administration is serious about expanding exports, it must become more proactive and flexible.'