Hi folks!
You may have seen the recent spate of news coverage about Sen. Joe Manchin’s latest climate talks with congressional colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The news broke late Monday in this tweet from an NBC reporter, saying, “Sens Manchin and Murkowski organized a climate-focused meeting tonight in the Capitol with progressives & moderates.”Â
Here are a few links to stories that quickly followed:
- April 26 - Manchin seeks Republican interest in climate, energy package (E&E News)
- April 26 - 'Last chance': Greens push climate compromise with Manchin (Politico)
- April 27 - Climate advocates fear that Manchin's bipartisan energy push is 'all smoke and mirrors’ (Washington Post)
- April 27 - Will Manchin’s bipartisan energy gambit bear fruit? (E&E News)
In general, CCL is very supportive of bipartisan climate talks. We’re glad to see climate policy discussion happening between members of different parties, and we want to see even more of it.
At the same time, we recognize that the budget reconciliation process, though a partisan one, does offer a unique opportunity to achieve major climate legislation. It would be a shame if that opportunity were to slip away. Budget reconciliation negotiations are expected to pick up again now that Congress is back from recess, and ideally, Senators can reach an agreement (though likely not a vote) by Memorial Day.Â
So we’re encouraged at Sen. Manchin’s willingness to come to the table in a bipartisan fashion, which is crucial for long term progress on the issue, and we also want to continue encouraging him and his Democratic colleagues to secure whatever climate gains they can in budget reconciliation in the short term.
CCL’s legislative team in D.C. has been following up this week with legislators who attended Sen. Manchin’s meeting on Monday to learn more about the discussion, so rest assured that we’re staying informed and will let you know any actionable information based on these developments.Â
In the meantime, continuing to send messages to Congress and to President Biden via our action page is very helpful. Thanks for keeping up the drumbeat!
From the April 27 E&E piece:
“Other climate-intrigued Republicans, however, remain skeptical of action, especially as they attempt to avoid new spending.”
Hey, teacher, call on me! I know the answer to “action” that will “avoid new spending!” It's deficit neutral and it's called “carbon fee and dividend.”Â
What's not to like?Â
Search Forums
Forum help
Select a question below
CCL Community Guidelines
- Discuss, ask and share
- Be respectful
- Respect confidentiality
- Protect privacy
CCL Blog Policy Area Categories
- Price on Carbon
- CBAM
- Clean Energy Permitting Reform
- Healthy Forests
- Building Electrification and Efficiency