Hopes are dimming after a lone coal-state Democrat sounded the death knell for President Joe Biden’s clean electricity program. The possibility that Democrats may fail for the second time in 12 years to pass a meaningful climate law, first reported Friday night by The New York Times, has set off a high-stakes scramble to find a plausible alternative, either by salvaging the funding and redirecting it to other programs or pushing through some creative eleventh-hour proposal. The $150 billion clean-electricity program was expected to provide more than 33% of the emissions reductions needed to hit the U.S.’s target by the end of this decade. The only other major carbon-cutting policy with comparable mainstream appeal ― specific and well-funded advocacy groups, supportive lawmakers, and successful examples of deployment ― is arguably a carbon tax. On Tuesday, however, Manchin seemed to end speculation that the death of the CEPP might breathe new life into a carbon tax.
By Alexander C. Kaufman. Huffington Post. Updated October 21, 2021
