Biden heads into climate summit as legislation hangs in balance

WASHINGTON  — President Biden heads to a United Nations climate conference Monday energized by a new legislative framework that, if enacted, would be the largest action ever taken by the United States to address climate change.

The $555 billion plan for climate spending is the centerpiece of a sweeping domestic policy package Biden and congressional Democrats presented Thursday, hours before the president traveled to Europe for another summit ahead of the climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

Biden called the plan “the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis that ever happened, beyond any other advanced nation in the world.”

While far from certain to pass in a closely divided Congress, the new framework reassured nervous Democrats and environmental leaders that a president who has made climate action a key focus of his administration will not arrive in Glasgow empty-handed.

The plan did not give Biden everything he wanted, but supporters still believe that, if enacted, it would set the United States on a path to meet Biden’s goal to cut carbon pollution in half by 2030.

“It’s a real signal to the world that the U.S. is back and demonstrating leadership on climate change,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of the League of Conservation Voters.

Biden’s plan includes more than $300 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy such as wind and solar power, as well as investments to boost nuclear power, sharply increase the number of electric vehicles and spur production of batteries and other advanced materials.

The plan also would spend at least $100 billion to address extreme weather such as wildfires, hurricanes and droughts, address “legacy pollution” in hard-hit areas and establish a Civilian Climate Corps, a New Deal-style program to create thousands of jobs building trails, restoring streams and helping prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday called the level of investment in clean energy “amazing” and said it demonstrated the importance of “having America lead in this as we go into” the climate summit.

A recent analysis by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm, found that passage of a bipartisan infrastructure bill and the larger climate and domestic policy package, combined with regulations by key federal agencies and state actions, could cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 45% to 51% below 2005 levels in 2030.

“We actually do think the U.S. can still put the target within reach, but it’s going to require a lot of sustained follow-up action by the executive branch and states after Congress is done to get the rest of the way there,” said John Larsen, an energy systems expert and co-author of the study.

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3buQz6M