Biden’s spending framework is a huge win for climate change activists, but they still want more
This week, President Joe Biden was happy to announce the Build Back Better Framework for his big spending plan to cover the social safety net and fight against climate change.
Biden’s spending framework on reconciliation package faces uncertain future
The price tag for the budget reconciliation package is set at $1.75 trillion. If all the framework elements become law, it will be a historic win for the president with a U.S. Senate split 50-50.
However, it will be a far cry from what progressives had envisioned. Democrats on the left started the negotiations with moderate members of their party at $6 trillion.
That number scaled down to $3.5 trillion over the summer. After Mr. Biden faced a few rough months politically, conservative Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema grew more rigid in the negotiations with the White House.
The two senators reportedly told the president that they support his framework. However, they still refuse to say the same thing publicly.
The tough stance has pushed progressives to take a hard line and block a bipartisan infrastructure bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Biden is touting the agreement over the framework, but its future remains uncertain. However, for a White House facing dwindling poll numbers, rising gas prices and inflation, and a crisis at the U.S. southern border, an apparent win is still a victory.
While paid leave, drug pricing, and medicare expansion were removed from the initial plan by Manchin and Sinema, the fight against climate change is the big winner in the framework presented by the White House.
Biden’s spending framework improved gives weight to fight against global warming
$555 billion, almost one-third of the package is expected to be devoted to the climate. Biden had made the issue one of his top priorities.
Biden did not get everything he wanted on climate, but having the tacit support of Manchin, who is from West Virginia, a state where coal plays a significant role, is of importance.
Environmental activists are not fastidious and see real potential in the framework. The plan will focus mainly on clean energy investments and tax credits.
The Biden administration wants to reduce global warming by transitioning away from fossil fuels, a significant source of green gas emissions.
The plan will cut emissions by half in 2030, compared to 2005 levels.
Americans, who choose to buy an electric car, could get $12,500 in incentives. A similar mechanism will be put in place for solar panels if the framework becomes law.
The proposal gives Biden some momentum as he heads to Europe to meet other world leaders at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Biden’s spending framework major roadblock for lofty vision is China
The meeting in Scotland is expected to tackle climate change in a more concrete fashion.
However, it is not clear what can be accomplished at the moment.
Critics of Biden’s climate change policy say that China, the world’s biggest polluter, is still a major roadblock no matter what America does.
The Asian country pumps out more greenhouse gases than the rest of the industrialized world combined.
The Chinese government has taken some actions but is still not doing enough to address the climate crisis.
All eyes will be on China at the climate conference next week. The major polluter is doing less than America, Europe, and others.
China is trying not to lose its competitive edge on the economy. This comes at the detriment of a more robust environmental policy.
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