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On Sunday, Mr. Manchin argued that “the energy transition my colleagues are seeking is already underway” as wind and solar prices plummet, as the utilities and transportation sectors shift away from oil, gas and coal. But scientists say the pace has to be much faster if the world is to tackle the most catastrophic effects of climate change, and the incentives in the bill are designed to achieve that.
“These were exactly the same arguments he made when he opposed the clean electricity plan, but now he’s only using them to oppose reasonable clean energy tax credits,” Ms Smith said. In both cases he called them “wrong”.
In a way, the current stalemate between most Democrats and Mr. Manchin is a foretold drama. In 2018, when the ranked Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Maria Cantwell of Washington, used her seniority to jump to the top of the Senate Commerce Committee, environmental Democrats pleaded with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to be the next most senior liberal. , to take the mallet and hide it from Mr. Manchin. But an independent with national ambitions, Mr. Sanders chose instead to sit at the top of the Senate Budget Committee. This, under strict seniority rules, left the energy committee open for Mr Manchin to take. As president, Mr. Manchin was responsible for writing several of the climate provisions in the Senate version of the Build Back Better Act.
Democrats said on Monday they’re starting to discuss how to salvage the bill’s climate change provisions.
Hawaii Democrat Senator Brian Schatz said he could see some parts, like clean energy incentives, move in smaller “pieces”.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the politics of this and what that means for the particular bill,” said Mr Schatz. “But I feel the fundamentals are in our favor on the climate side.”
“Science is more brutal than politics, and there is broad agreement that we need to do something big and bold about climate,” he said.
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