By Adam Andrzejewski for RealClearPolicy
While Congressional Democrats pushed funding “human infrastructure” in a now-failed $3.5 trillion package that would have a massively expanded of the social safety net, the plan also included plenty of changes to combat climate change.
Included in the Build Back Better Act, the climate change proposals were initially part of the bipartisan infrastructure deal but were cut from that package in June, CNBC reported.
President Joe Biden’s plan is to transition away from fossil fuels and mandate that a portion of the country’s electricity come from renewable sources, like wind and solar power.
It called for new polluter fees, created new consumer rebates for home electrification and weatherization, provided clean energy, manufacturing, and transportation tax incentives and grants, and electrified the federal vehicle fleet and buildings, according to CNN.
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The bill included tax incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, CNBC reported.
The package also spent $10 billion on a “civilian climate corps program” for young people to produce more jobs addressing climate change.
Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema objected to the $3.5 trillion price tag.
Manchin said the maximum he’d support is $1.5 trillion, while Sinema hasn’t committed publicly to a number, Reuters reported.
Among the provisions that Manchin opposed is the $150 billion “clean electricity performance program,” to pay utility companies that increase their renewable energy supplies by 4 percent every year, CBS News reported.
Manchin is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and said he’s “very, very disturbed” by climate provisions that could eliminate fossil fuels, CNBC reported.
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