Are you going green or are you going non-partisan? Biden’s wide choice of infrastructure

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s hopes of pouring billions of dollars into green infrastructure investments to combat climate change have come up against the political obstacle of attracting Republican lawmakers to reject this approach as unnecessary, excessive spending.

As negotiations in Congress advance in search of a bipartisan deal, the White House’s ability to ensure climate focus in Biden’s comprehensive infrastructure package becomes daunting – so much so that key Democrats are warning the government to halt negotiations with Republicans, and it describe as waste time that does not result in a sustainable compromise.

“In my view, no climate, no deal,” said Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass. “I will not simply vote against an infrastructure package without climate protection – I will fight against it.”

The debate resembles the political and political differences that complicate Biden’s broader talks on his ambitious infrastructure agenda, the US $ 1.7 trillion comprehensive employment plan that goes through Congress, while Democrats and Republicans argue over what exactly infrastructure is matters and how much is needed.

The White House is sticking to Biden’s initial ideas, which include nearly $ 1 trillion in climate-related investments aimed at empowering the electric vehicle market, making buildings and real estate more resilient to harsh weather conditions, and making the country’s electricity grid carbon To bring emissions. free until 2035.

Moving on to a newer definition of infrastructure, the president is trying not only to repair the country’s roads and highways, but also to rebuild its economy with new types of investments for the 21st century. Republicans prefer a more traditional approach that modestly touches on some climate-related elements but focuses specifically on transport and other typical developments.

As Biden woos a new bipartisan group of 10 senators with a slimmed-down proposal in mind, leading Democrats fear their party will lose a chance with controlling the House, Senate and White House to advance its climate change priorities.

“The President has underlined that climate change is one of the critical crises we face as a nation,” said Andrew Bates, Deputy Press Secretary for the White House on Friday, “and he and his team have continually sought the lead in the clean.” Energy industry and energy jobs fought in the clean economy – which are of crucial importance for our economic growth, our competitiveness and our middle class. “

At a climate forum on Friday, former Vice President Al Gore, who spoke to Biden last month, said, “I know he is committed to this issue. I know very well because he knows and said that inaction is simply not an option. “

In all divisions, there could be some common ground between the White House and the Republicans, especially with the GOP Senators now in bipartisan talks.

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a senior GOP negotiator, said he raised flood resistance and energy precautions while on the phone with Biden Tuesday that would benefit his state. He was also seen in a long and somewhat animated conversation with Biden on the tarmac last month when the President was visiting Louisiana.

Hailing from a coastal state familiar with the dangers of inclement weather, Cassidy supports a bipartisan bill that gives property owners tax breaks that protect homes and businesses from natural disasters like forest fires, cyclones, floods and droughts, and another to support projects , the “capture” and storage of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants and other fossil fuels. Louisiana has multiple locations vying to become a national hub for carbon capture.

Senate Republican Chairman Mitch McConnell has remained largely silent about the bipartisan effort, and other GOP leaders are cool about this recent negotiation and doubt that their five Republican counterparts will find a compromise.

Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, the No. 3 Republican leader, told reporters, “The things you have to do to get Democratic votes would be hard to get Republicans.”

With Congress narrowly split and the Senate evenly divided, 50:50, Biden would need the support of at least 10 Republicans to hit the 60-vote threshold required to break a filibuster of opponents. The President also encourages Democrats to embark on a parallel path of budget balancing rules that would allow a passage of 51 votes, which is achievable because Vice President Kamala Harris can get a tie.

Still, the White House and Republicans remain far apart on important details, including the overall size of the package and the method of payment.

Biden wants to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, which Republicans reject as a red line that they will not cross.

Instead, the emerging bipartisan proposal from the 10 Senators is expected to increase the federal gas tax that consumers pay at the pump by pegging it to inflation. Biden rejects this approach because he refuses to collect taxes on anyone who earns less than $ 400,000 a year. The group can also tap unspent COVID-19 aid funds and track unpaid income taxes.

Jamal Raad, executive director of Evergreen Action, an environmental group, said after months of negotiations that “it is clear that there will never be 10 votes from the GOP faction” for larger investments like those proposed by the White House.

In the House of Representatives, the Progressive Caucus MP Ro Khanna, California, tweeted: “An infrastructure bill that does not prioritize the climate crisis will not pass the House. Period.”

And Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I., a leading climate hawk, said he was “nervous” that Democrats may not be serious about addressing climate change in the infrastructure bill. “Time is running out for us.”

Biden government officials say they understand the concerns. White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said she and other officials would “fight like crazy” to make sure regulations, including a clean electricity standard, are included in the final bill.

The standard calls for the country’s power sector to be carbon-free by 2035, a key aspect of Biden’s goal of halving the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said he and others are concerned about the extended efforts to win GOP votes, which they believe are unlikely.

From his home in California, he sees the threat of forest fires and droughts fueled by climate change on a daily basis. “We are in a difficult moment and we don’t always have leadership to reflect that,” he said.

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Associated press writer Kevin Freking in Washington on this report.

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