The largest budget bill in American history, the massive emissions-reduction program, may be scrapped by Democratic lawmakers. According to people familiar with the matter, Senator Joe Manchin III from West Virginia and Kyrsten Snema from Arizona told President Joe Biden that they are refusing to support his climate agenda. This forced negotiations for the $3.5 trillion Build back Better bill to a halt.
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According to the Associated Press, Biden said Friday that they were getting to the bottom of the difficult spot. He was referring to ongoing negotiations. At the moment, we are stuck in a stalemate.
He said that it was going to take time and warned that the political back-and forth could drag on into the end of the calendar year.
Biden made a speech at Hartford's childcare center, Connecticut. He expressed doubts about whether the comprehensive social spending bill and climate policy bill (which is believed to include mandatory parental leave and two years of community college for free) will pass Congress, despite overwhelming support from many Democratic legislators.
We won't get $3.5 trillion this fiscal year, to be honest. He said that he would negotiate.
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To push the Build Back Better bill through Congress, Democrats must have unanimous support. This process is known as reconciliation. It doesn't require any Republican votes to pass. The Clean Energy Performance Program is the issue. This $150 billion initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions aims at drastically reducing them over the next ten years. This program would reward utilities for increasing their clean energy supply by at least 4% annually and punish those who fail to meet the threshold. The Times described it as the engine behind Biden's climate agenda. It ultimately aims at halving America's carbon emissions by 2030.
Manchin, a centrist Democrat from the West Virginia coal and oil industries, stands in his way. His seventh-largest overall industry donor was U tilities, and he is currently the second-largest beneficiary of utility money in Senate for the 2022 cycle (just behind Majority Leader Chuck Schumer).
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Sinema, another centrist Democrat, is also preventing progress. Two Democratic aides who are familiar with the matter said that she doesn't believe Congress should raise tax rates for large corporations and individuals in order to pay for the proposed expansions of the nation's social safety net.
Both have not clarified which specific changes to bill they would approve, further frustrating their Democratic colleagues. Representative John Yarmuth, a Kentucky representative, said to reporters in relation to the talks earlier this month: I don't know what Sinema wants.
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The White House staff is reportedly looking at rewriting the bill in order to soften its climate policies and reduce the clean energy program. According to people familiar with the matter, one suggestion for rewriting would include tax incentives for consumers who buy electric vehicles or businesses that produce renewable energy. However, these incentives would end after a specified time period, according to sources. Two people familiar with the negotiations said to the Post that lawmakers are considering a voluntary emission trading program, which would provide federal funds for aluminum, concrete, and chemical manufacturers in order to reduce their emissions. The rewrites would not be as thorough or aggressive as the draft.
Manchins office provided the following statement to Reuters when asked about negotiations:
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Senator Manchin clearly voiced his concern about the use of taxpayer money to pay private companies for doing things they already do. He supports efforts to combat climate change, while protecting American energy independence.
Noting that the White House may make concessions to Sinema and Manchin, it could affect the support of other Democratic legislators. Tina Smith, a Minnesota senator who helped to draft the Clean Energy Performance Program, said that while dropping the program could win Manchins' vote, it would also cost hers.
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Vedant Patel, White House spokesperson, declined to comment on the details of the bill. She stated that the White House is focused on the president's climate goals and positioning America to meet its emission targets in ways that grow domestic industries and create good jobs.
At a San Francisco press conference, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker from California, stated that she will continue to push for the aggressive climate change provisions originally proposed.
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She said that the climate piece is what we are here today. This is our time. We don't have time to wait any longer.
Biden's strong condemnation of the current administration's position on climate change is causing lawmakers to try to find comprehensive climate policies before the COP26 United Nations climate summit in Glasgow. It is sad enough that two senators can bring down the U.S. politics, but it is even more depressing when you consider that many climate experts believe this summit is our best chance of keeping global warming from reaching catastrophic levels.
