Climate policy will be incremental

Climate advocates are hoping President Biden and members of Congress deliver on their pledge to pass substantive climate change legislation, such as carbon pricing or cap and trade. Don’t bet on it.

American democracy is representative in name but by committee in reality. The Senate committee that is putting pen to paper on current climate legislation is the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Chairman of that committee is Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. That’s right. West Virginia. The country’s second largest coal producing state. If you want to a really make big dent in carbon emissions you have to go after the two biggest emission producers – Big Coal and Big Oil. And that means you have to take on Joe Manchin, a man beholden to the voters and coal lobbyists in West Virginia. Good luck with that.

President Biden wants the US to clamp down hard on fossil fuel production and shift to alternatives. But he’s in no position to push hard on Manchin. The President needs Manchin’s vote to pass his $3.5 trillion budget bill that includes not only climate legislation but an assortment of social programs as well. And Manchin has already come out publicly and said he’d prefer the bill not get voted upon until next year.

What does it all mean? Congress will pass some climate legislation. But like it usually does, it will push big bets down the road.

Tom Bienemann

Spokane