Democrats and climate activists were infuriated Thursday after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) refused to advance his party’s economic package, citing climate and energy programs and tax increases for wealthy Americans.
Manchin’s decision to leave comes seven months after he spent weeks talking to Democrats over a bill he would support and killing President Joe Biden’s “Rebuild Better Than You Are” plan.
“Political headlines are worthless to the millions of Americans fighting for food and fuel as inflation rises to 9.1 percent,” Manchin spokesman Sam Runyon said. “Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to set aside the political agenda, reassess the economic realities facing the country, and avoid measures that fuel the inflationary fever.”
“Senator Manchin is at the negotiating table,” he added.
By New York TimesManchin’s abandonment of the plan undermines President Biden’s “ambitious climate agenda” that should be “the largest one-time federal investment in American history to address the effects of climate change”.
File/US Senator Chuck Schumer, Labor and Climate Change Activists calls for Congressional Funding for Civil Protection Corps at City Battery Farm. (via Getty Images Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket)
Hundreds of young climate activists hold a rally in Lafayette Square on the north side of the White House to demand that US President Joe Biden work to pass the Green New Deal in Washington DC on June 28, 2021. (Chip Somodeville/Getty Images)
“Without action in Congress, it would have been impossible to meet Mr Biden’s goal of reducing US emissions by nearly half by the end of this decade,” the government said. Sometimes. “This goal aims to keep the planet’s climate stable at around 1.5 degrees Celsius warming compared to pre-industrial levels.”
By Thursday morning, Democrats had hoped they had reached an agreement with Manchin, but their hopes were dashed at the last minute. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and his team reportedly suffered a “hell shock” after believing Manchin would succeed.
“Many are angry with Mr. Smith. “Manchin” said Sometimes. “They criticized the negotiators for straining while at one stage softening a package that was enough to reduce emissions, while also adding fossil fuel projects that conflicted with climate targets.”
Joyful. said. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Sometimes He said Manchin could help sabotage “the last chance to avoid the most devastating and costly effects of climate change”.
File/Activist held a rally in support of the Green New Deal bill in front of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office in New York, New York, April 30, 2019. (Drew Angerer/Getty)
“We cannot look back ten years from now and prevent hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of economic losses and compensate for the inevitable loss of life,” Wyden told the publication. “If we don’t progress as we expected, we need to salvage this package as much as possible. The phrase that failure is not an option is overused, but actually failure is not an option here.”
Leah Stokes, a professor of environmental policy at the University of California at Santa Barbara, reportedly “sobbed Thursday night” after learning that Manchin was rejected after “working for months” helping Democrats draft climate law.
“The stakes are very high,” he said. “I’m just uncomfortable judging our own kids.”
Tiernan Zittenfeld, senior vice president of government relations at the Conservative Voters Union, said: “There are no words fit to be printed in The New York Times to describe how horrified and outraged we are.”
Source: Breitbart
