[Note to BfAZ readers: I’m limited in how much of this I can post, but the paywall at Newsweek isn’t too bad, so you should be able to access it]
It’s an awful feeling, watching Senator Joe Manchin saddle congressional Democrats‘ efforts to confront climate change with fossil fuel giveaways, then watching Kyrsten Sinema hold Manchin’s watered-down legislation hostage until a provision narrowing a gaping tax code loophole benefitting private equity billionaires was stripped. We all know that time is running out: We’re likely to see a Republican takeover in the House and maybe even the Senate in November, which will dash any hope of bolder action on climate for at least another two years, probably longer.
The clock ticks away. Even by the most optimistic estimate, the last sands will pass through the climate change mitigation hourglass in 2035. If the world hasn’t cut greenhouse gas emissions to less than half of current levels by then, large parts of our Earth may become uninhabitable.
Continue reading at Newsweek.com
Excellent article in Newsweek, Mr. Lord.
Democrats are hawking the IRA as a huge win for the American people and a great accomplishment, but I’ve noticed they aren’t talking about the giveaways to the fossil fuel industry and the impacts those will have. The Democrats are also avoiding too many specifics about how the IRA will lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Even people who have a better understanding of Joe Manchin’s giveaways and Kyrsten Sinema’s tax policy still think the IRA is a great accomplishment because it’s the best that the Democrats could get done at this time, and “something had to get done.”
The Democrats could have legislated Build Back Better close to it’s original form, fulfilling the very reasonable promises of the 2020 election if not for a couple of corrupted traitors. It’s tragic to have gotten that close and walk away with a compromised fraction of what was envisioned by progressives trying to lead the nation into the 21st century.
Anyhow, thanks for all you do, Mr. Lord. It’s not easy to stand up and speak truth while everyone is throwing confetti.
Thanks, Liza. I still think if Biden had stuck to his guns and insisted that the infrastructure bill be tied to Build Back Better, Sinema and Manchin would have caved. The reality here, to borrow someone else’s words, is that “climate science doesn’t grade on a curve.” We’re really running out of time.
Yeah, I remember when Biden spoke with such certainty that he could get BBB passed if it were decoupled from the infrastructure bill. He seemed to believe that Manchin would come around and his own persuasion skills and experience would prevail over Sinema’s objections. I doubt he ever met a Democratic “lawmaker” as brazenly corrupt as Sinema, but now he has.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Bernie Sanders speaks privately about those two traitors.