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Manchin's and Schumer's Tiny Step for Humankind [1]

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Date: 2022-07-30

“We all needed good news,” said Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, which is at risk of disappearing beneath rising seas. [emphasis mine] The climate deal “puts much-needed wind in our sails,” she said, though she cautioned that “we remain far from where we need to be.”

Chuck Schumer said, “By a wide margin, this legislation will be the greatest pro-climate legislation that has ever been passed by Congress,”

Jonathan Pershing, Mr. Biden’s deputy climate change envoy until January, said his counterparts around the world have been worried. They are "acutely aware of the seeming collapse of U.S. climate legislation." The bill speaks to that.

So, politicians did what politicians do. They dealt. "The talks were driven by major concessions made to Mr. Manchin — who demanded fewer tax increases, more fossil fuel development and benefits for his home state." OK. Par for the course. (I don't play golf but no matter.)

The New York Times reports that 'Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the legislation would restore American credibility in international negotiations. “You can’t preach temperance from a bar stool, and you can’t ask China, India, Brazil or other countries to cut emissions if we’re not doing it ourselves in a significant way."'

The legislation is "nothing short of an attack on the American family", in the view of Senator John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming. Congress ought "cut spending and unleash American oil and natural gas production." His plan is to cut the deficit, lower energy costs, and reduce inflation by means of "unleashing" the tigers of Capitalism. Didn't they try that?

The bill is a start to "reverse the longstanding migration of clean energy manufacturing to China and elsewhere." The promise of work in the United States will take you far if you're a politician.

And as to saving money on energy, ". . . investing $9 billion in rebates for Americans buying and retrofitting their homes with energy efficient and electric appliances. It also includes a decade of consumer tax credits that would lower the cost of heat pumps, rooftop solar, water heaters and electric HVAC, or electric heating, ventilation and air conditioning technologies."

And then too, ". . . $30 billion in production tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and critical minerals processing and $10 billion in investment tax credits to build manufacturing facilities that make electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies."

Even poor people are given a passing nod: ". . . over $60 billion to support low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately burdened by the environmental and public health effects of climate change."

There is consideration given the ongoing effects of climate change. "Development of fire-resilient forests and increased urban tree planting, along with the conservation and restoration of coastal habitats."

So, the upshot is this: "Should it pass both chambers in the coming weeks, the measure would fulfill longstanding Democratic promises to address soaring health care costs and tax the rich, as well as provide the largest investment toward fighting climate change in American history."

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/30/2113593/-Manchin-s-and-Schumer-s-Tiny-Step-for-Humankind

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