[“President Biden must be able to put a deal on the table that
reflects what we then expect from the rest of the world, so we begin a
downward trajectory in terms of the greenhouse gases that are going up
in the atmosphere,” said Sen. Ed Markey D-Mass]
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4 SENATE DEMOCRATS SAY THEY WON’T BACK BUDGET DEAL IF MANCHIN AXES
CLIMATE PROVISIONS  
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Mike Ludwig
October 9, 2021
Truthout
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_ “President Biden must be able to put a deal on the table that
reflects what we then expect from the rest of the world, so we begin a
downward trajectory in terms of the greenhouse gases that are going up
in the atmosphere,” said Sen. Ed Markey D-Mass _

Sen. Ed Markey speaks at a press conference on funding climate change
legislation outside the U.S. Capitol on October 7, 2021, in
Washington, D.C., Win McNamee / Getty Images

 

Democrats in Congress are engaged in an increasingly bitter debate
over what to cut from their budget reconciliation package in order to
appease party conservatives who refused the original $3.5 trillion
price tag. Progressives fear that key climate provisions may be on the
chopping block even as President Joe Biden prepares for international
climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.

Four Senate Democrats now say they will only support the
reconciliation package and the bipartisan infrastructure deal at the
heart of the Biden agenda if lawmakers approve new efforts to reduce
domestic greenhouse gas emissions, which the president will need in
negotiations at the United Nations climate conference next month.

“President Biden must be able to put a deal on the table that
reflects what we then expect from the rest of the world, so we begin a
downward trajectory in terms of the greenhouse gases that are going up
in the atmosphere,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) at a
Capitol Hill press conference with youth climate activists on
Thursday.

Progressives and activists warn
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that elements of the bipartisan infrastructure bill are a Trojan horse
for the privatization of public resources, such as transportation and
water systems. Critics also say the separate Democratic proposal to
invest $3.5 trillion in new social and climate spending over the next
10 years is not enough
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to address the nation’s various crises, including the growing cost
[[link removed]] of
climate-related disasters. Researchers estimate the global economy
could lose up to $23 trillion
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by 2050 due to climate change, while the United States loses more than
$800 billion
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each year.

Still, Markey said lawmakers should pass both the Democratic Party’s
reconciliation package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that
have consumed Congress for months. In the House, progressives recently
delayed a vote
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on the bipartisan bill in order to force action on the reconciliation
package. Markey said only the reconciliation package is a “climate
bill” — the bipartisan bill contains subsidies
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for the fossil fuel industry
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— and measures for confronting the climate crisis must not be
dropped in negotiations with conservative Democrats that continue to
frustrate progressives.

“Here’s the deal: Climate cannot and will not be cut. No climate,
no deal,” Markey said to applause from activists with the Sunshine
Movement and other groups. “Climate solutions must remain up front
and center in this reconciliation package.”

Markey was joined by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Tina Smith
(D-Minnesota) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), three Green New Deal
Democrats who remain focused on climate as debate over the
reconciliation package splinters their caucus. The press conference
was one of the latest swipes by liberals against conservative
Democrats Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia,
who threaten to derail the spending package or significantly reduce
the scope and price tag. Votes from both Sinema and Manchin are needed
to pass the legislation along party lines.

Manchin, a top recipient
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of fossil fuel contributions, told Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer as early as July
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that he would support only $1.5 trillion in new spending through the
budget reconciliation process Democrats are using to bypass Republican
opposition. The White House now says it would accept a $2.2 trillion
deal, though Manchin has so far outraged progressives by refusing to
budge on his spending cap, according
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to reports. The final price tag is expected to land somewhere between
these two figures.

Manchin has also balked
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at Democratic proposals that would subsidize a transition from fossil
fuels to renewable energy while pushing for infrastructure investments
in the bipartisan bill that would help the fossil fuel industry stay
afloat
[[link removed]].

Two unnamed sources tell the_ New York Times_
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that Sinema is requesting $100 billion in cuts to climate programs in
the reconciliation bill, but a spokesman for Sinema’s office firmly
denied this claim. Sinema has been criticized by activists
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and fellow Democrats for refusing to publicly discuss spending
negotiations.

Markey said allied Democrats are committed to creating a Civilian
Climate Corps,
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a proposal championed by the youth climate activists and the Sunrise
Movement that would put young people to work building the next
generation of climate resilient infrastructure. A $150 billion
proposal to create a Clean Energy Performance Program that would
incentivize utilities to make progress toward Biden’s goal of 80
percent clean electricity by 2030 is also non-negotiable, Markey said.

“We’re willing to listen to Sen. Manchin to try to deal with his
concerns, but ultimately all of those programs that we talked about
here today, we want to have in the final reconciliation bill,”
Markey said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), the Senate Budget Committee chairman
who originally proposed a $6 trillion spending package
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also took aim at Manchin and Sinema this week and demanded to know
what exactly the two holdouts would cut from the reconciliation bill
to reduce spending.

“It’s not good enough to be vague, and I do not understand to be
honest how in this time in world history you cannot talk about the
crisis of climate change and tell us what you want to do,” Sanders
told reporters on Wednesday.

Manchin has yet to say publicly which climate provisions he considers
deal breakers, but the West Virginia senator with ties to the coal
industry
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appears concerned about any federal efforts that would put the fossil
fuels that have long dominated his state at a competitive
disadvantage. Democrats are reportedly prepared to appease
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Manchin with tax credits for power plants that install expensive and
controversial carbon capture technology
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which environmentalists fear will lock in fossil fuels for decades to
come.

Manchin has said
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market forces should guide the transition to clean energy rather than
government intervention.

This view puts multiple Democratic priorities at risk, including
proposed tax credits for renewables and the Clean Energy Performance
Program, which would penalize utilities that remain reliant on dirty
energy, as well as a proposed tax on methane emissions from natural
gas production.

Methane is responsible for about 30 percent of global temperature rise
to date, and 75 percent of methane emissions must be reduced in order
for the world to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, according
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to a new report from the International Energy Agency. (This is the
international climate goal supported by the Biden administration.)
Globally, fossil fuel extraction is responsible for 120 million tons
of methane emissions each year, but that number could be cut by up to
70 percent if the oil and gas industry simply fixed leaks in its
infrastructure. The U.S. is a top producer of oil and gas, and the
industry is responsible for 30 percent
[[link removed]] of
domestic methane emissions.

Democrats want to tax methane emissions to encourage the industry to
clean up its act. The industry has pushed back,
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telling congressional leaders that a tax on methane pollution would be
felt by consumers. Experts say the industry is being misleading
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The tax would only penalize the industry for failing to capture and
sell its own product — natural gas. The Biden administration is
writing new regulations for reducing methane pollution from the oil
and gas sector, a process that was stalled for years by the Trump
administration.

“While cutting methane is a vital start, it is not enough,” said
Lauren Pagel, policy director at the environmental group Earthworks,
in a statement this week. “The U.S. must begin a managed decline of
fossil fuels that centers industry workers and frontline communities
who are most exposed to the health and climate impacts of fossil
fuels.”

Progressives in the House are pushing to include a repeal of tax
breaks and other subsidies
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for the fossil fuel industry in the reconciliation package, which
would complement new investments in renewables. Rep. Ro Khanna of
California, a Democrat leading the push
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said repealing fossil fuel subsidies is a “key part” of fulfilling
Biden’s climate agenda.

“That’s billions of dollars that can be used to invest in
renewable energy, education, and childcare,” Khanna said in an email
to _Truthout_. “This is our opportunity to make meaningful progress
on climate and take away the special advantages that this polluting
industry has been relying on for decades.”

As Sanders pointed out on Wednesday, the focus on fossil fuels among
Democrats alarmed the oil and gas industry, which has spent more than
$55 million [[link removed]]
lobbying Congress so far this year. Manchin and Sinema are among six
Democrats who are considered allies
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by the fossil fuel lobby and received a combined $330,000
[[link removed]]
in contributions from political committees and lobbyists for the oil
company ExxonMobil.

Whether climate provisions such as the methane tax, the Civilian
Climate Corps and the new incentives for electric utilities will
survive the Democrats’ efforts to “trim and slash”
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the reconciliation bill remain to be seen. Environmental justice
provisions, including a plan to replace lead water pipe
[[link removed]]s
that put children at risk of serious health problems, may not make the
cut as Democrats prioritize climate.

“I do not want my generation to have to look their kids and
grandchildren in the eye and say ‘yes, we failed you, and the planet
is now uninhabitable,’” Sanders said.

Copyright, Truthout [[link removed]]. Reprinted with
permission . May not be reprinted without permission.

Mike Ludwig is a staff reporter at _Truthout _based in New Orleans. He
is also the writer and host of “Climate Front Lines
[[link removed]],” a podcast about
the people, places and ecosystems on the front lines of the climate
crisis. Follow him on Twitter: @ludwig_mike
[[link removed]].

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