US President Joe Biden holds a press conference before leaving the NATO Summit at IFEMA Arena in Madrid, Spain, June 30, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden said Friday he will press ahead with his own efforts to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a day after the senator did. Tell Joe Manchin, DW.Va. , Democratic leadership that he would not support the climate provisions in the reconciliation bill.
Comments by Manchin, a key centrist with the Senate’s swing vote 50-50, likely drown out months of negotiations in Washington over the comprehensive policy package and end Congressional hopes of passing any major climate change legislation this summer.
“If the Senate does not act to address the climate crisis and boost the domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong enforcement action to confront this moment,” Biden said in a statement.
The president did not mention specific climate and clean energy policies, but said his actions would create jobs, improve energy security, boost domestic manufacturing and supply chains, and protect the economy from rising oil and gas prices in the future.
“I will not back down: the opportunity to create jobs and build a clean energy future is very important and irreversible,” the president said. Biden also urged lawmakers to move quickly to pass other parts of the package that the senator supports.
Manchin, who hails from coal-rich West Virginia, has opposed some efforts by Democrats to tackle climate change and reduce emissions. With a 50-50 vote split in the Senate, Democrats won’t be able to push the legislation forward without Manchin’s support for the domestic policy bill, which would allocate billions of dollars in incentives to cut emissions.
US Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) delivers remarks to reporters at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, November 1, 2021.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
During an interview with a West Virginia radio station, Manchin said he remains open to negotiations and would only support quick action on the drug pricing part of the plan while delaying other parts. He said he would not support any climate provisions until he had a better understanding of the July inflation numbers.
“I want the climate. I want an energy policy,” Manchin said. “I wouldn’t put the staff in this – I wouldn’t put myself in this – if I wasn’t honest about trying to find a way forward to do something good for our country.”
Biden must now count on imposing enforcement actions to tackle climate change, which could be overturned by future administrations. Possible executive actions include limiting oil and gas exploration on federal lands and imposing new EPA regulations on power plant emissions.
Senator. Sheldon Whitehouse, Dr. I., argued that the administration could impose border carbon tariffs on imports from countries with comparatively worse greenhouse gas emissions, as well as require the capture of carbon from all major emitters and establish stronger emissions controls on light and heavy-duty cars and trucks. Work vehicles.
“There is an opportunity at this moment. The Biden administration has a broad path to step up and begin taking aggressive action to combat the climate crisis,” Whitehouse wrote in a tweet on Friday.
“With Reconciliation banned as a path to ambitious climate action, Congress should focus on potential bipartisan climate solutions such as Border Carbon Adjustment,” Whitehouse wrote in a second tweet. “In the meantime, the executive branch has a lot of tools at its disposal.”
Some environmental groups have called on the president to declare a national climate emergency under the National Emergency Law, a move that would unleash powers such as reimposing a ban on crude oil exports.
Climate groups also urged Biden to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to set national limits on greenhouse gases and to require the Department of the Interior to end new oil and gas leases and phase out oil and gas production on public lands and waters.
“This is the time to take action, fast and furious, on climate,” Brett Hartle, director of government affairs at the Center for Biodiversity, said in a statement. “Time and time again, we’ve seen Manchin’s hoax and hustle get to nothing.”
Ashley Thompson, a prominent climate activist for US Greenpeace, said the president “has no more excuses” after Manchin’s opposition to climate legislation, and he should use executive powers to prevent the worst consequences of climate change.
“President Biden could end public land lease sales to fossil fuel companies, and start regulating [greenhouse gases] Through his current powers with the Environmental Protection Agency, and declaring a climate emergency, Thompson said. “We can’t keep waiting for a bunch of companies in Congress to do nothing while people are dying.”
Biden has pledged to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% from 2005 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by mid-century. However, without a reconciliation bill that includes climate provisions, the country is on track to miss the president’s goal, according to a recent analysis by independent research firm Rhodium Group.