Biden climate plan at risk; Dems race to strike a deal
With a centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s climate change strategy all but dashed, Democratic lawmakers headed to the White House on Tuesday searching for new ways to narrow, reshape and swiftly wrap up negotiations on what had been his sweeping $3.5 trillion budget plan.
Nearly 20 centrist and progressive lawmakers were meeting in separate groups with Biden as Democrats review a “menu” of alternative emission-reducing strategies — one of the most crucial issues for voters who support the president and his party — and race to reach accord on his overall package.
Among the climate-change-fighting proposals being considered are a tax on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal, a methane emissions fee and tax breaks for energy providers who hit certain emissions goals.
The Democrats need to find tactics that can be accepted by both centrists and moderates, whose votes are all needed in the evenly divided Senate. Senators want to reach a framework this week ahead of monthend deadlines.
“Our goal is to continue to make progress,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said simply of the day’s fast-moving events.
Biden’s main climate-fighting plan seems all but dead. A key holdout, conservative Sen. Joe Manchin from coal-state West Virginia, has made it clear he is opposing the president’s proposal to have the government provide financial rewards to electric utilities that meet clean energy benchmarks and impose penalties on utilities that don’t, in line with the president’s goal of achieving 80% “clean electricity” by 2030.
The alternative strategies being compiled and assessed could align with Manchin’s stated goal of keeping a “fuel neutral” approach to federal policy that does not favor renewable energy sources over coal and natural gas that are dominant in his state — though the senator told reporters a carbon tax was not at all in the mix.
“Everybody’s talking,” Manchin said.