Joe Manchin Is Once Again Setting Climate Hopes on Fire

After negotiations that led to hope in the hearts of Democratic lawmakers on reviving some of the President's climate policy, coal-rich West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has brought up a new round of concerns. It is about the nation's historic inflation rate.

Manchin said that it is clear to anyone who shops at a grocery store or gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to the inflation fire.

The Senate is working on a climate-centered spending bill. The current version of the bill was the subject of talks between Schumer and Manchin last week. As of this week, Manchin says he is too worried about high prices to negotiate with the Democrats.

The proposal that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription prices was something that Manchin wasn't comfortable with. A clean energy tax and fees for methane emitters are included in the spending package if it is passed. Taxes would be raised on the rich and prescription drug costs would be lowered.

Without Manchin's support, this won't happen. According to the Washington Post, the White House is trying to get Manchin on board with the climate-related tax credits and emissions fees in the spending bill.

The bill is a small part of what it could have been. More than $550 billion was allocated to combat climate change and boost investment in cleaner energy in last year's "build back better" bill. There were tax credits for renewable energy and electric vehicles. It was the first climate change legislation passed since 2009. The bill has been gutted by the Senate.

Manchin was against the credit. The proposal included increasing the existing up to $7,500 credit for EV, that was implemented in 2010 to encourage drivers to purchase electric vehicles made by union workers. An additional $500 credit was added for cars that use batteries that were made in the U.S. If the new car met the U.S.-made criteria, some drivers could have received up to $12,500 in credits. Manchin was happy that the extra money for union-made cars was removed from the spending bill.

The utter hollowness of Joe Manchin was discussed in more detail.