A small but growing number of Democrats in Congress want to move ahead with the climate portion of President Biden's stalled spending bill, because they believe they can muster enough votes to muscle it past Republican opposition.
The party is trying to save what it can from the Build Back Better Act because of the possibility of losing control of Congress. The climate-change and social-policy bill passed the House, but came to a halt last month when Joe Manchin III, the West Virginia Democrat and swing vote in the Senate, said he opposed it.
Some Democrats say the party should regroup around a climate bill after Mr. Manchin suggested he might back some climate provisions.
The only thing that can pass is a package that has the votes, and that's the bottom line, according to Senator Edward Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts.
The strategy was endorsed by Mr. Biden during a news conference on Wednesday.
Mr. Biden said he had been talking to his colleagues on the Hill. I think we can get support for $500 billion for energy and the environment.
The child-care, health care and tax-reform provisions are priorities for different segments of the Democratic coalition.
Environmentalists say the window is closing for action to curb the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet as the United States has recently experienced deadly storms, heat waves, drought and wildfires made worse by climate change.
We don't have another 10 years to wait. The climate and clean-energy provisions in the package that have been largely worked through and financed should be put together as a package.
The social programs that would not make the cut became the agenda that we run on in the years to come.
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The senator from Massachusetts said Democrats should pass climate legislation now, along with any social programs that have support, and run on in the rest of the agenda in subsequent campaign years.
Republicans who accept the scientific consensus that climate change is a result of burning fossil fuels expressed less urgency.
The New York Times asked the 50 Senate Republicans if they would support the climate provisions in a stand-alone bill. None of them said they would.
Senator John Boozman, Republican of Arkansas, said in a statement that it would be hard to find GOP members who would approve the Democrat priorities.
The climate provisions are opposed by every Republican in the Senate.
Two of the 50 Senate Republicans spoke about how they might back some climate measures. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that he might be able to support some of it, while Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said that she thinks anything is possible.
The climate portion of Build Back Better aims to move the American economy away from its 150-year-old reliance on fossil fuels and towards clean energy sources.
The bill offers incentives for industries, utilities and individuals to shift from burning oil, gas and coal for energy and transportation to using wind, solar and other forms of power that do not emit carbon dioxide, the most plentiful of the greenhouse gases that are warming the world.
Tax credits for producers and buyers of wind, solar and nuclear power would be $320 billion. Tax credits of up to $12,500 would be given to buyers of electric vehicles. Up to 30 percent of the bills would be covered by the existing tax credits if it were extended.
The bill includes $6 billion to make buildings more energy efficient and another $6 billion for owners to replace gas-powered furnaces and appliances with electric versions. Billions of dollars are given for research and development of new technologies to capture carbon dioxide from the air.
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President Biden said on Wednesday that Congress would be able to support $500 billion for energy and the environment.
According to a survey conducted by climate change communications programs, voters across the political spectrum support tax credits and rebates to consumers, businesses and landlords for energy efficient heating and cooling, solar panels, electric vehicles and other low-emissions or no-carbon technology.
Many of the clean-energy tax credits in Build Back Better have been written by Republican lawmakers in the past. The tax credits, which have been law since the 1970s, are usually extended for a few years. The pending legislation would keep them in place for a decade, which is designed to spur more investment.
Barry Rabe is a professor of political science and environmental policy at the University of Michigan. Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota are some of the Republican states where wind and solar production has grown. Over time, these policies have received bipartisan support.
Some Republicans said they would not vote for a stand-alone climate bill. If you are serious about climate, put a price on carbon, said Romney. Lawmakers don't think a tax on carbon dioxide emissions is politically feasible.
Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota preferred support for technologies to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it underground. Billions of dollars for research and development of carbon capture, a technology that is not in use at any commercial scale because it is too expensive, is included in the Build Back Better Act.
Mr. Cramer and H.R. McMaster, a former national security adviser to President Trump, called for a carbon fee on imported goods as part of a trans-Atlantic climate and trade initiative.
The senator from Iowa, who often refers to himself as the "Father" of the wind-energy-production tax credit, said he could support provisions in the bill that bolster wind and solar power but was opposed to sections that would help make electric vehicles more affordable. That would hurt the industry in his state.
None of the Republicans said they were facing a planetary emergency.
Mr. Cramer said he didn't follow the alarmism of "we're doomed and we're doomed soon".
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Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota said he doesn't "adhere to the alarmism of 'we're doomed and we're doomed soon.'"
The country that has historically pumped the most planet-warming gasses into the atmosphere is the United States. He wants to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Scientists say catastrophic events will become more frequent.
The average global temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees.
Analysts say it will be difficult to meet Mr. Biden's target without the clean energy tax credits.
The executive director of the climate advocacy group said that this is a make-or-break moment for the climate crisis. He said that he and other environmental groups have communicated this to the White House and Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader.
Democratic leaders are reluctant to abandon social programs such as universal prekindergarten or lower costs for prescription drugs because they provide benefits that are immediately felt by American families and would demonstrate to voters that the party can deliver on its promises.
Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist and pollster, said that the health care and prescription-drug proposals are the most popular part of the package.
Even though Democrats control the White House and Congress, the party is stymied in the Senate by procedural rules, unified Republican opposition and the fact that the chamber is split evenly with Democrats and their two independent allies able to prevail.
If Democrats were to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor for a vote, they would need to be joined by at least 10 Republicans to get the 60 votes needed.
They can use a fast-track procedure known as reconciliation, which will allow them to bring the legislation to the Senate floor with a simple majority. Senate leaders have been trying to use that route to advance the bill.
The reconciliation process can only be used once a year. Democratic leaders are trying to cram as much of Mr. Biden's agenda as possible into a single piece of legislation. Kevin Book is an analyst with ClearView Energy, a nonpartisan policy analysis firm.
A spokesman for McConnell said that the senator made comments about the climate section of the package in November. He called it a reckless taxing and spending spree that would hammer American families and the affordable energy they need to power and heat their homes and drive their cars.
Republican efforts to deny Mr. Biden a major legislative win appears to be the reason for the policy. He said that even policies that might scream out for opportunity for bipartisanship end up being partisan.
Emily gave reporting.
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