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WASHINGTON — A provision that, over the objections of Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, permanently bans new offshore drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, is deducted from the $2.2 trillion climate change and social spending bill, according to two people with knowledge of the latest draft. removed. your invoice.

Mr Manchin also expressed concern over a provision that would revoke drilling leases at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and hinder future oil and gas extraction, although the bill remains in the bill as of Thursday, according to those familiar with the bill.

A spokesperson for Mr. Manchin did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to being a priority for Democrats, the offshore drilling ban has also received some support from coastal Republicans, who are concerned about the potential for oil spills to harm the tourism and fishing industries.

Environmental activists described it as the final blow to the climate provisions in the spending package known as the Build Better Act, which was cut due to Mr Manchin’s objections. In an evenly divided Senate, she has a quick vote and single-handedly set the boundaries of the president’s climate agenda.

“This is a tragic turning point in the seemingly inevitable repeal of the Build Back Better Act,” said Brett Hartl, director of government affairs at the Center for Biodiversity. “Why Senator Manchin wants to poison our shores while living the good life in his landlocked state only shows how out of touch he is with overwhelming public support to end offshore drilling.”

A version of the bill, which passed the House last month, would permanently ban new offshore oil and gas leasing on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It would not stop existing offshore drilling activities.

The home version also cancels a program that opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling following a 2017 vote by Congress. to allow drilling in one of the last remaining wilderness areas in the country. Home to migrating waterfowl, caribou, and polar bears, the sanctuary could hold over 11 billion barrels of oil. Democrats and Republicans have been fighting for more than four decades over whether to allow drilling there.

As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, Mr. Manchin is responsible for writing the Senate version of the sections of the Build Back Better Act that lifted the offshore drilling ban.

According to one person briefed on Mr. Manchin’s thoughts, he has maintained the North Pole drilling ban, but remains concerned about it.

Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders said that allowing continued oil and gas drilling in the oceans is putting the planet in danger. “We have to be aggressive as we transform our energy system,” he said.

World’s leading energy agency in May warned that governments around the world should stop ratifying Fossil fuel projects are projecting now if they want to prevent the pollution they produce from raising average global temperatures 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is the threshold at which scientists say Earth will suffer irreversible damage.

Mr. Manchin personal interests One family refrained from investing in a coal business and resisted pleas from Senate colleagues and the president to support provisions in Build Back Better designed to move the country away from coal, gas, and oil.

Mr. Manchin rejected Part of the bill that will become the single most effective tool for reducing greenhouse gases is a clean electricity program that will reward power plants that switch from burning fossil fuels to solar, wind and other clean sources, and punish those that don’t. He has pushed to remove A provision to charge emissions of methane, a powerful planet-warming pollutant that seeps from oil and gas wells. He also objected to a regulation that would provide tax deductions to consumers who buy electric vehicles produced by union labor.