Policy elites say the World Bank should be the leading global financial institution for supporting global development. They say that the World Bank’s financial balance sheet should be dramatically expanded to provide the necessary funds to assist developing countries in transitioning to energy systems that do not generate greenhouse gases.

They are wrong.

The financial resources of the World Bank should not be expanded. The United States has more urgent financial needs than appropriating more money for a financial institution that is infested with corruption. World Bank monies continue to be misappropriated by governments and elites of the developing world. Research shows that when development funds are distributed from the World Bank to host countries, up to 20% of those funds are misappropriated.

Most disturbingly, internal World Bank audits find that upon disbursement of World Bank funds, up to 7.5% of the monies released immediately disappear into bank accounts controlled by the elites of the host countries. Independent audits of World Bank projects consistently find widespread malfeasance and corruption in development projects. The mission of the World Bank is not to fund Swiss bank accounts for corrupt government officials.

Moreover, the U.S. faces a federal debt crisis. The net federal debt approaches 100% of GDP. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit outlook is becoming darker . Federal government spending is out of control. The U.S. cannot afford to be a checkbook for the global economy. The U.S. should not appropriate more money to the World Bank until Congress implements a credible deficit reduction plan.

This is not to say that the U.S. should adopt isolationism. Helping Ukraine to rebuild will be a justified U.S. priority in the years to come. But a strong and prosperous Ukraine is more important to the U.S. than building windmills in Africa.

Indeed, African countries are not large sources of greenhouse gases. The United Nations said that Africa contributes only 2%-3% to annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The industrial infrastructure of Africa is not well developed. Transportation systems are primitive. What Africa needs is a greater focus on healthcare and education, as well as providing local communities with the energy systems to substitute relatively clean burning fuels for charcoal and wood-burning stoves that contribute to respiratory diseases. Climate change is global. African greenhouse gas emissions are trivial compared to the emissions of China, India, and Indonesia. Those three countries account for over half of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

Top line: Congress should reject proposals to expand the World Bank's resources. The U.S. cannot afford to throw more money down the international foreign aid rathole .

James Rogan is a former U.S. foreign service officer who later worked in finance and law for 30 years. He writes  a daily note  on finance and the economy, politics, sociology, and criminal justice.