Climate change: Tears of joy as US bill clears Senate hurdle

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A key plank of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda was approved by the US Senate.

As soon as this week, the bill will be sent to the House, which is controlled by Democrats.

Climate action is the largest investment in US history.

US carbon emissions will be reduced by 40% by the year 2030.

The White House says the package will pay for itself and raise corporate taxes and healthcare costs.

The bill needed the support of all 50 of the party's senators in order to pass the Senate.

A far more expansive measure that many Democrats had hoped to approve last year has been scaled down.

It needs to be approved by the House, where Democrats have a slightly larger majority, so that it can be signed into law by the president.

The bill's passage into law would be a major achievement for the White House's long-stalled domestic economic agenda.

Schumer said the senate is making history after pumping his fists in the air.

The bill is for Americans who have lost faith in congress.

The senator from Hawaii cried as he left the chamber.

According to the New York Times, he said he could look his kid in the eye and say we were doing something about the climate.

Republicans say they will try to stall or block the progress of the bill.

The bill doesn't help lower prices for working people or keep criminals in jail, which is something working people in this country care about.

Congress debated a revised version of the bill on Saturday after compromises on the more ambitious original plan were agreed with two key Democratic hold outs.

The original bill could have made inflation worse.

Tax credits for clean energy development are included in the bill. A new $27 billion clean energy technology acceleration will be created.

Some households could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500 to purchase an electric car.

$60 billion will be given to communities that have been hardest hit by fossil fuel pollution.

President Joe Biden has promised to bring the US back to the international stage on climate action. He promised to slash US greenhouse gas emissions by half by the year 2030.

He made a big announcement last month to help build infrastructure that can survive extreme weather.

Climate change makes it more likely that hot, dry weather will cause fires.

Since the beginning of the industrial era, the world has warmed by 1.1C and unless governments cut emissions, it will keep rising.

If it passes, it will be the most ambitious action the US has taken to try to stop the planet overheating, despite the fact that this isn't the all-singing, all-dancing climate mega-bill Joe Biden promised when he became president.

The impact could be more consequential.

John Kerry, President Biden's climate envoy, has been working hard to convince other countries to take action on climate change.

The US had a credibility problem.

One Democratic Senator said that you can't preach temperance from a bar stool.

If you want India, China or Brazil to cut emissions, you have to do it yourself.

The hope is that international efforts to tackle global warming will be revitalised because of America's example.