- A deal between Sen. Joe Manchin and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer includes $369B for climate change.
- The deal contains both clean energy tax incentives and oil and gas lease protections on public lands.
- Sen. Manchin, D-W-Va., was adamant about safeguarding his state’s fossil fuel economy.
- While generally supportive of the bill, environmental advocates don’t like the leasing provisions.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s initial ambitions to combat climate change called for an aggressive phase-out of fossil fuels.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the coal country lawmaker whose state economy depends on natural gas production, was never going to let that happen.
Instead, the deal Manchin brokered over the past week with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., could actually expand the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels – at least in the short run. While it’s heavy on tax credits and incentives to help build out the nation’s still-maturing clean energy sector, it opens up the potential for more oil and gas exploration during the transition to a greener economy.
