![]() ![]() However, these powers were curtailed by the US Supreme Court in a June ruling. Previous administrations have relied on the Clean Air Act – a statute on air pollutants administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Atlantic pointed out that “Republican-led climate efforts have also failed to bear fruit” in Congress, with the party’s support restricted to “smaller, more incremental bills”.Īs a result, US climate action at the federal level has largely relied on executive actions, which can easily be undone by successive presidents. The paper added that the new bill “replaced the sticks with carrots” – using subsidies, rather than carbon taxes, to address climate change. Previous efforts to pass climate legislation have been scuttled, often by the Republican party, according to a piece in the New York Times that detailed the history of attempted climate legislation. Prof Jesse Jenkins, an energy researcher at Princeton University, told ABC News the bill marked “the first substantive piece of climate legislation that has made it through the US Senate in history, after decades of inaction”. How has the Inflation Reduction Act come about? In this article, Carbon Brief explores the contents of the bill, the impact it is expected to have on US emissions and how the media has responded. There has also been broad agreement that, despite its shortcomings, the bill marks the most ambitious climate action ever taken by Congress. Nevertheless, it brings the US much closer to meeting its international climate targets. It also includes some provisions to expand oil-and-gas drilling on public lands. In terms of the money committed, the bill is still far off the scale of the earlier proposals put forward by the administration when Biden took power back in 2021. ![]() It was agreed after months of haggling with Democrat Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a coal “ baron” who has repeatedly sunk Biden’s attempts to pass ambitious climate legislation. The Inflation Reduction Act contains $437bn of spending, $369bn of which will go towards emissions-cutting measures such as tax breaks for low-carbon energy and electric vehicles. The plan would also overhaul Medicare Part D plans to cap costs for seniors at $2,000 annually.On Tuesday 16 August, US president Joe Biden signed a bill into law that he has described as “the most significant legislation in history to tackle the climate crisis”. Medicare will be empowered to negotiate down the costs of expensive prescription drugs received at doctors' offices and at the pharmacy. The bill also keeps intact a Medicare provision which Manchin had previously agreed to. The new version's climate provision is $6 billion less than previous iterations. The bill still faces stiff opposition from Republicans and could be derailed by Democrats voting outside of party lines and still needs to pass both chambers of Congress, where Democrats hold a slim majority. Shares of SunRun and SunPower both jumped as much as 13% while First Solar surged 10% and SolarEdge rallied 6%. Manchin previously signaled that he wouldn't support a bill with new tax or climate provisions. The agreement includes $369 billion in climate and energy spending aimed at cutting US carbon emissions 40% by 2030. Solar stocks were higher Thursday, following news that Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reached a deal on a spending bill that includes climate funds. ![]()
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