ARVADA, Colorado. – President Biden warned on Tuesday that the United States only has a decade left to deal with a global climate crisis, and used his second day touring a forest-ravaged West to try to rally the public and congressional Democrats to support to the measures his administration hopes to reduce the combustion of fossil fuels.
Mr. Biden stops this week in Colorado; Boise, Idaho; and Long Beach and the Sacramento area of California represented more than an opportunity to draw attention to the severe destruction of forest fires and other natural disasters that have been exacerbated by climate change. The visits were the last chance to sell the importance of measures aimed at mitigating climate change, some of which seem increasingly at risk in their spending packages.
“A drought or fire sees no property line,” Biden said during statements at a federal renewable energy lab. “It doesn’t matter which party you belong to. Disasters will not stop. This is the nature of the climate threat. But we know what to do. We just have to muster the courage and creativity to do it. ”
Stressing the urgency, Biden added, “We’re not much older than ten.”
Democratic leaders drafting a $ 3.5 trillion spending bill are struggling to match the urgency of Mr Biden’s pleas with the backlash from energy lobbyists and some key Democrats, who want a much less expansive effort from the which Biden has in mind.
On Monday, during a visit to the California Office of Emergency Services in the Sacramento area, Mr. Biden appeared to acknowledge it. Before receiving information about the damage caused by forest fires, he reminded dozens of emergency workers in the conference room that he could not include all his proposed investments to combat climate change in a bipartisan agreement reached this year. summer on infrastructure. He said he focused on including them in the broader $ 3.5 trillion package, but acknowledged it could fall short of his ambitions.
Understand the law of infrastructures
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- A $ 1 trillion package was approved. On August 10, the Senate approved a comprehensive bipartisan infrastructure package, which limited weeks of intense negotiations and debates over the largest federal investment in aging the nation’s public works system in more than ‘a decade.
- The final vote. The final count in the Senate was 69 in favor and 30 against. The legislation, which has yet to be passed by the House, would affect almost every facet of the American economy and strengthen the nation’s response to global warming.
- Main spending areas. In general, the bipartisan plan focuses on spending on transportation, utilities, and pollution cleanup.
- Transport. About $ 110 billion would go to roads, bridges and other transportation projects; $ 25 billion for airports; and $ 66 billion for railroads, giving Amtrak the largest funding it has received since it was founded in 1971.
- Utilities. Senators have also included $ 65 billion to connect rural communities with difficult high-speed Internet access and help enroll low-income city dwellers who can’t afford it and $ 8 billion for western water infrastructure.
- Pollution cleaning: Approximately $ 21 billion would be spent on cleaning up abandoned wells and mines and Superfund sites.
“Whether this happens or not, exactly how much, I do not know. But we will get it, ”Biden said.
Chamber prosecutors have already made some sort of concession on the weather. A bill released earlier this week omits any carbon taxes, though that revenue could help pay for the giant package, which Democrats plan to pass on the party line and without Republican support. . Many Senate Democrats have pushed for a direct emissions tax or an indirect tax, such as a tariff on goods imported from high-emission countries such as China. But the party is not aligned and, given the meager majorities in the House and Senate, this plan would likely have trouble getting the 50 votes needed in the Senate.
Centrist concerns about the size and scope of some proposed tax increases could force party leaders to reduce incentives for low-carbon energy deployment in the plan. So could influential Democrats who have resisted previous party climate legislation, such as Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia.
Manchin, a moderate coal state, is chairing the committee tasked with drafting the Senate version of the bill’s biggest effort to reduce emissions: a carrot and stick approach to boosting electricity services to get more low-carbon energy sources of the next decade.
“The transition is happening,” said Manchin, who spoke Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Now they want to pay companies to do what they already do. It doesn’t make sense to me that we take billions of dollars and pay for public services for what they will do as they pass the market. ”
On Tuesday he declined to comment further, telling reporters he preferred to negotiate in private. Senate Democrats used a weekly luncheon to provide an update on efforts to put together pieces of legislation during the annual summer break, though it was unclear how quickly the differences between the two chambers would reconcile.
Biden used his western swing to highlight what his aides hope will be a call for climate action for those who have not committed to a more aggressive plan. Throughout the trip, Mr. Biden heard from emergency officials and governors, including those who disagreed with the administration about the pandemic and other issues, about the urgent need to address natural disasters. Biden told California emergency workers he had recently spoken with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas about the emergency response.
“Some of my most conservative …” Mr. Biden said before stopping and resuming, “some of my less believing friends in this notion of global warming suddenly receive an altar call.”
“They are seeing the Lord,” Mr. Biden said.
When Mr. Biden received his informative report on fires later from Emergency Services Office officials, a woman could be heard presenting him with a fire map saying, “That’s why it’s so important “.
On Tuesday, Mr. Biden saw a demonstration of wind turbines at the Flatirons Campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Arvada, Colorado, and then recounted the damage caused by hurricanes and wildfires he had seen on trips across the United States this year. month. He called for tax credits to accelerate the deployment of solar energy and electric vehicles and the creation of a civilian climate corps to conserve public lands and help make them more resilient to climate change.
Biden’s economic team has not clarified whether the president would accept an emissions tax as part of the package. He declined to accept a Republican proposal to raise the federal gas tax to help pay for infrastructure, and cited his commitment not to raise income taxes on anyone earning less than $ 400,000. But his administration has not opposed an increase in the cigarette tax, which the House included in its fiscal plan and which would disproportionately affect the lowest winners.
Nor have government officials said how far a final agreement on emissions reductions must be reached for Biden to accept it. A journalist in Arvada asked him if he would sign the $ 3.5 trillion spending package if it included reduced measures to deal with climate change, Mr Biden threw his fist. “I am in favor of more climate measures,” he said.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the deputy chief press secretary, told Air Force One reporters that Biden was strongly committed to the climate components of the bill. But, he said, “Biden’s climate agenda does not depend solely on reconciliation or the infrastructure package.”
“We are looking to all sectors of the economy for opportunities to grow clean energy jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he said, “especially in the decisive – in this decisive decade.”
Emily Cochrane has provided reports.