Democrats in both chambers of Congress have long emphasized their $3.5 trillion budget bill’s climate policies as constituting a crucial element of the bill; however, moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) remains unconvinced on these, even as Democrats speed toward another legislative deadline at the end of October.
For most Democrats in Congress, policies to reduce carbon emissions and to move away from fossil fuels have been a keystone of their policy priorities for months.
When Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who drafted the original budget framework, introduced the bill on the Senate floor, he promised an “extremely aggressive … [transformation of the U. S.] energy system away from fossil fuels.” Sanders’ budget framework allocated over $250 billion to the measure.
Other multi-million allocations in the bill are meant for the same purpose. For example, millions would go toward the research and development of low-to-zero emissions buses and ferries. Another policy in the bill would provide federal funding to build new charging stations for electric cars.
Outside of the legislative process, President Joe Biden has been seeking the same ends.
At the beginning of his term, Biden halted construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The president also placed a moratorium on new leases for oil and natural gas companies on federal lands.
But Manchin, the key swing-voter, does not love the policies.
Manchin criticized the policies during a CNN appearance in September, when he told reporters that companies were already switching to clean energy on their own where possible.
“Now [Democrats are] wanting to pay companies to do what they’re already doing,” he observed, adding “Makes no sense to me at all for us to take billions of dollars and pay utilities for what they’re going to do as the market transitions.”
Manchin’s skepticism of these policies is rooted in concerns about the effects that they could have on his state of West Virginia, where carbon-producing coal provides nearly all electricity in the state according to the U. S. Energy Information Administration.
In May 2021, coal provided nearly five million MWh of electricity to West Virginia, while the next most used source, natural gas, provided less than 300 thousand MWh. Green energy sources in the state provide even less: hydroelectric accounts for 134 thousand MWh and non-hydroelectric renew... (Read more)
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Submitted 892 days ago
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