The White House is expected to include more than $500 billion in its spending proposal after opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin sunk its top climate policy, Axios reports.
President Joe Biden hoped to include a new clean electricity program that would have encouraged utilities to stop using coal and fossil fuels and eventually penalized companies that did not. But Manchin, who comes from a coal-rich state, rejected the proposal.
With a 50-50 Senate, Manchin and fellow holdout Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have frustrated Democrats with demands to gut the $3.5 trillion bill.
The White House’s new framework is around $1.75 trillion, a number that has drawn blowback from progressives who were pushing to include more of their priorities in the package.
$500 billion for climate:
The White House is telling lawmakers that it has “mostly settled” on a compromise on climate.
The White House expects to provide between $500 billion and $555 billion for tax breaks and grants for companies to reduce their carbon emissions.
The cost is not much lower than the $600 billion program axed by Manchin but would not penalize companies.
The price tag underscores the White House’s commitment to including climate funding to win over progressive votes.
Biggest climate bill in history:
Progressive Sen. Brian Schatz touted progress on the climate provision.
"Everything else is getting a massive haircut, but this isn't," Schatz told Axios.
The Biden administration pushed to reach an agreement before Biden heads off to a UN climate summit in Scotland.
"This will be, just as a matter of fact, the biggest climate bill in human history. At least half a trillion dollars. That's a pretty good story to tell at the Conference of Parties (COP26)," Schatz said.
