By Lisa Friedman Senator Joe Manchin III may have single-handedly torpedoed President Biden’s climate change and social spending bill this week when he announced that he would not support the measure. That’s because the Senate is evenly split and Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat with strong ties to the coal industry, holds the swing vote. As I wrote this week with Coral Davenport, without the legislation, and the estimated $555 billion in clean energy incentives that it contains, the United States will not be able to meet the Biden projections for reducing emissions to meet the Paris climate goals.
Source: It’s Been a Bad Week for Build Back Better. Here’s What It Means. – The New York Times
Senator Joe Manchin III may have single-handedly torpedoed President Biden’s climate change and social spending bill this week when he announced that he would not support the measure.
That’s because the Senate is evenly split and Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat with strong ties to the coal industry, holds the swing vote.
As I wrote this week with Coral Davenport, without the legislation, and the estimated $555 billion in clean energy incentives that it contains, the United States will very likely miss the president’s goal for emissions reductions. You can see the estimated U.S. greenhouse gas trajectories with and without Build Back Better on the chart above by my colleagues Nadja Popovich and Brad Plumer. And, you can read their full article here.
The consequences for the planet are high. Unless the United States, which is the largest emitter in historical terms, moves decisively to reduce its emissions from burning fossil fuels, it will be difficult to persuade other countries to make cuts. That sharply increases the chances of blowing past a dangerous temperature threshold: 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to preindustrial levels.
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