Hannity falsely suggests Clinton “promis[ed]” U.S. would pay $100 billion per year to address climate change in developing countries

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Greg Lewis

Published

Sean Hannity suggested on his radio show that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had “promis[ed]” that the United States would pay $100 billion “every year” to address climate change in developing countries. But Hannity's claim was immediately contradicted by an audio clip of Clinton's speech that he then aired on his show, in which Clinton said the U.S. “is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year” [emphasis added].

Hannity suggestion immediately contradicted by clip of Clinton speech he aired

From the December 17 broadcast of ABC Radio Network's The Sean Hannity Show:

HANNITY: You gotta stand back and just look at what's happening in our country right now. You look at the Democrats, they now control this government from everything from the White House to Congress. They control this massive bureacracy. And yet they, in spite of their promises, unemployment's 10 percent and they're off to Copenhagen and while they're there, they're actually promising, listen to the words of Hillary Clinton, they're promising 100 billion with a B, $100 billion that the U.S. will mobilize every year by the year 2020. How are we going to pay for that? Here's what she said.

CLINTON [audio clip]: In the context of a strong accord in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation, the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries.

As clip indicated, Clinton actually said U.S. would “work with other countries” to “jointly mobiliz[e] $100 billion a year” from “a wide variety of sources.” During her December 17 speech at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Clinton said:

CLINTON: And today I'd like to announce that, in the context of a strong accord in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation, the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries. We expect this funding will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance. This will include a significant focus on forestry and adaptation, particularly, again I repeat, for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.

Nonetheless, immediately after airing a portion of Clinton's comments, Hannity asked "$100 billion a year?" and claimed that “it's not going to be poorer countries that pay for this, it's going to be the U.S., paying the penalty for polluting the earth.”