Obama funds dirty energy projects around the world | The daily briefing

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Through the US Export-Import Bank, Barack Obama's administration has spent nearly $34bn supporting 70 fossil fuel projects around the world, work by Columbia Journalism School and the Guardian has revealed. Guardian reporters have spent time at American-backed projects in India, South Africa and Australia to document the sickness, upheavals and environmental harm that come with huge dirty fuel developments. In India, for example, the reporters heard complaints about coal ash blowing into villages, contaminated water and respiratory and stomach problems. "While Obama can claim the US is the world's leader on climate change - at least until Donald Trump enters the White House - it is also clear that it has become a major funder of fossil fuels that are having a serious impact upon people's lives," they write.