Like in north Queensland or the Hunter Valley,the prospect of a rapid shift towards renewable energy is a frightening one for many West Virginians. Manchin,who positions himself as a champion of the coal industry,is also a significant investor in fossil fuel companies.
That’s a massive problem for Biden given he needs the support of all 50 Democratic senators – including Manchin – to pass any legislation through Congress.
A sweeping US$3.5 trillion bill currently before Congress contains an array of climate measures that would go a long way towards meeting Biden’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
But Manchin has reportedly said he will block the climate centrepiece of the bill:the US$150 billion Clean Electricity Performance Program,a mechanism that would reward electricity generators that transition to renewable energy and penalise those which don’t.
Manchin’s stance,first reported inThe New York Times,has infuriated environmentalists,who regard the clean electricity program as a highly effective way to drive down greenhouse gas pollution.
Michael Mann,one of America’s most prominent climatologists,said on Twitter that Manchin had “just launched a hand grenade at Glasgow”.
Mann said that without the clean electricity program,the Biden administration cannot meet its 2030 carbon reduction target. “And international climate negotiations begin to collapse,” he wrote.
Environmentalist Bill McKibben was equally alarmed by Manchin’s threat to “gut” Biden’s climate agenda.
“This is high on the list of most consequential actions ever taken by an individual Senator;you’ll be able to see the impact of this vain man in the geologic record,” McKibben said on Twitter.
Manchin’s opposition to the clean energy program has set Democrats scrambling to find a way to rewrite the bill in a way that could pass the Senate without squibbing on climate change. There is talk of inserting a form of a carbon tax into the bill,but it’s far from clear this would win Manchin’s support.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she wants a bill to pass Congress by October 31 so the US can serve as “a model for the world” to follow at Glasgow.
The fate of Biden’s climate agenda – and quite possibly the Glasgow summit itself – are at stake. But time is rapidly running out and there’s no sign the Democrats have found a way through the impasse.