WASHINGTON, — U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Monday that activists are wrong to protest World Bank loans for oil and natural gas projects, saying the financing is needed to help developing countries.
"I think these protests in the energy area are misguided," Richardson told reporters after speaking at an industry conference several blocks from where police were clashing with thousands of protesters trying to shut down meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
A coalition of activists have called on the World Bank to stop providing loans for oil and natural gas projects that they claim harm the environment and force poor people off their land.
"I think that's very shortsighted," Richardson said. "Energy development in the Third World, in Africa and Latin America, is key, and capitalization is needed," he said.
Instead of paying for projects that pollute the environment, the protesters have said the World Bank should invest in clean energy, such as solar and wind projects.
They called the World Bank's loans "corporate welfare" that allow energy firms to avoid putting up their own money for projects. The protesters said those loans also take away bank funds for new highways, water systems and schools in Third World countries.
Richardson countered by saying that the World Bank is already providing some loans for renewable energy projects.