Biden’s clean electricity program seems to be succumbing to opposition from one Democratic senator.
The United States president Joe Biden began its era with great climate promises: he announced the return of the United States as an international leader in climate matters, returned the country to the Paris Agreement and tightened its emissions reduction target.
In practice, the promises were to be redeemed with a multi-trillion infrastructure package to which Biden linked its climate action, most notably the clean electricity program.
It will provide subsidies for those who switch to renewable energy and penalize those who continue to produce and use fossil fuels. The program aims to rapidly replace existing coal and gas-fired power plants with wind, solar and nuclear energy.
Now the package is finally being voted on, but climate action is in full swing.
The New York Times according to sources working in the Senate, the Democratic Senator of the State of West Virginia Joe Manchin has informed the government that it strongly opposes the clean electricity package and therefore does not intend to vote in favor of the government’s draft budget.
Democrats need every representative of their own party behind the show, so Manchin’s voice is crucial.
Manchin spoke to reporters after a meeting on the infrastructure package on 23 June.
Manchin spokesman Sam Runyon confirmed to The New York Times by email that the senator has expressed concern about the package.
“He’s worried about giving taxpayer money to companies for the kind of action they’re taking anyway,” Runyon wrote.
However, according to climate experts, the program is vital and emissions will not fall sufficiently without it.
“This is definitely the most important climate action in the whole package,” says the expert involved in drafting the program Leah Stokes To The New York Times.
“We need it to meet our climate goals. That is a fact. And now we cannot achieve them. So this is pretty sad. ”
Sitra’s senior advisor Oras Tynkkynen estimates that Biden can still achieve emission reductions through other measures, but it is not easy.
“Biden and Democrats have at least one hand tied behind their backs on climate issues, as they can’t get through almost any climate legislation without Republican support,” Tynkkynen says.
“Climate policy is mainly based on two things, the budget and the decisions of the president. In other words, it is crucial in terms of emissions what investments are now made. ”
Manchinin the position was expected as West Virginia lives on coal and gas. Manchin himself gets campaign money from these industries, and he should get a win in the state election next year. For many West Virginia voters, the future of coal and gas is the number one theme for the election.
Indeed, Republicans opposed to the Biden package have tried to soften Manchin and other Democratic senators in the Republican-victorious states in need of re-election in order to cut the budget.
The New York Times according to sources, the White House has now begun work on a version of the infrastructure package in which the clean electricity program has been omitted.
The draftsmen are trying to put smaller emission reductions in the package instead. The task is difficult, as it was the $ 150 billion clean energy program that was clearly the most important climate action in the package. It has been calculated to reduce emissions the fastest and to have the longest effect.
Part both MPs and Senate Democrats are calling for the clean electricity program to be replaced by a carbon tax. The idea of the tax is for polluting industries to start paying for their emissions.
“I have had three years on the table with a carbon pricing initiative just waiting for the right moment,” commented the senator Ron Wyden from the state of Oregon, badly devastated by forest fires To The New York Times.
“Now many senators, key moderate senators, have said they support this.”
Carbon tax although it has long been seen in the United States as a politically impossible solution to get through, there would still be no guarantee of success.
According to Tynkkynen, the pricing of emissions is, in the opinion of many experts, the most economically effective way to reduce emissions, so support for it can also be found on the right. There is still, in general, a very tax-hostile atmosphere in the United States.
“It can also involve a political game. Democrats on the left want to say that if we are not interested in our draft budget, then we can be taxed. It is certainly an even more unpleasant solution for some Republicans. ”
If no agreement is reached, Biden will soon have to travel to Glasgow for a UN climate summit between his legs. He was to present the clean energy program as evidence of a change of direction in the United States.
However, Tynkkynen does not believe that Biden would receive a reception from other countries, even if climate policy is jeopardizing at home.
“Yes, other countries know how difficult it is for the Biden administration to act. After four years of dealing with Trump in the climate talks, the overriding feeling is probably relief anyway. ”
According to Tynkkynen, the United States in particular is expected to make additional investments in international climate finance, on which the actions of many poorer countries depend.
“Funding is a big issue in Glasgow. In Trump’s time, it was zero, but even in Biden’s time, it seems to be far from expected. ”
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