While the federal government can still use regulations to reduce carbon pollution, a recent U.S. "Absent new legislation, the renewable sector will not grow at the pace needed to address the climate imperative," said Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), after news broke that Manchin was seeking to trim the spending bill. Massive spending on things like subsidizing renewable power generation and electric vehicles would have brought greenhouse gas reduction goals within reach, according to a 2021 analysis by the Rhodium Group. Without Manchin's support, Congress is unlikely to fork over a substantial investment in climate policy before the midterm elections, when the balance of power is expected to tip to Republicans and put climate legislation off for several more years. Manchin himself has personal financial ties to the coal industry, and he has gotten more campaign donations from the fossil fuel sector than any other senator. At the same time, it is a major producer of coal and natural gas. Manchin's home state of West Virginia faces grave threats from floods supercharged by climate change. Since mid-2021, Senate Democrats and the Biden administration have repeatedly entered into negotiations with Manchin to advance action on climate change, only to have him shoot down the proposals. That would be in line with what an international consortium of scientists say is necessary to fend off the worst impacts of climate change.īut the political divide in Congress has thrown up obstacles to achieving that aim, and the conservative-majority Supreme Court has made it harder for the Biden administration to tackle climate change on its own. "No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or a gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire."Īnother obstacle to Biden's climate agendaīiden has vowed to use the "whole of government" to combat climate change, aiming to halve greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. "While Washington seems to now understand this reality, it is time for us to work together to get unnecessary spending under control, produce more energy at home and take more active and serious steps to address this record inflation that now poses a clear and present danger to our economy," he said in a statement on Wednesday, after the government's report for June consumer spending showed the highest inflation in 40 years. "I would not put my staff through this - I would not put myself through this - if I wasn't sincere about trying to find a pathway forward to do something that's good for our country," he said.Įarlier this week, the conservative Democrat had expressed worries about increasing government spending, and putting more dollars into the economy, as the United States faces its worst inflation in decades. He added he did not want to stop future negotiations. Manchin also said he saw progress on the climate side of the talks, despite disagreements about the magnitude of fossil fuel cuts, and he wanted to look at passing a bill in September. "He took that as 'no,' I guess," Manchin said. ![]() If Schumer wanted to move forward immediately, Manchin told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval, a much slimmer bill on health care was his best option. Manchin told Schumer he wanted to see the July inflation numbers before committing to a bigger package, he said on Friday. Manchin still open to a deal, but wants a check on spending amid high inflation No spending bill can advance without Manchin's support in the evenly divided Senate, and Schumer has been negotiating with the frequent holdout for weeks. ![]() But this is far less than the $2 trillion package originally proposed, which would have added record funding to key areas of President Biden's domestic agenda, namely climate and social safety net programs. ![]() This could mean a standalone health care bill is within Democrats' reach. The West Virginia Democrat favors a bill that would lower prescription drug prices and extend for two years health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which would prevent premium increases that many states are set to announce next month, according to a Democrat briefed on the conversation. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., delivered a serious blow to ongoing Senate negotiations for a Democratic budget package, telling Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday that he will not support a bill that includes climate or tax provisions - leaving slimmed-down legislation focused on health care.
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