Environmentalists Are Enraged Once More.
Climate advocates weren’t silent when it was revealed late Thursday that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., would not support climate policies as part of the Democrats’ comprehensive economic package.
Leah Stokes, an associate professor of environmental policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, wrote to NBC News saying, “Senator Manchin has sentenced his own grandkids to a shattered Earth.” For centuries to come, his deeds will be preserved in the fossil record.
The Biden administration’s climate strategy has just suffered a setback with Manchin’s decision to filibuster climate legislation that had already been scaled back from its initial goals. A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court overturned portions of the EPA’s authority to control carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency.
Environmentalists, a group all too familiar with slow and insufficient action, were prompted to express their dissatisfaction over the failures to solve what they believed to be the most urgent problem confronting humanity as a result of these growing setbacks at the highest levels of government.
Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, a group that offers tools for climate solutions, declared, “I’m irate.” “It reminds me of the film “Groundhog Day.” We are simply living the same experience again and over again.”
Manchin stated to West Virginia’s MetroNews on Friday that he has not ruled out further conversations and that he plans to consider the July inflation figures before making a final decision.
Manchin was attacked for his hesitation by Chris Walton, the public policy director for the Hip Hop Caucus, a grassroots, nonpartisan organization that strives to engage young people on issues of justice and equity.
He asked, “What are we still holding out for?” “Our home is ablaze. Why do people disagree on whether something is truly on fire or just a little bit?”
Walton said he experienced all kinds of feelings in response to the recent events, ranging from rage to grief, and that it is especially depressing given that the effects of climate change are already being felt across the nation, regardless of people’s political views.
Chris Walton remarked, “If we can’t breathe, you can’t either.” Nobody will have access to clean water to drink or a place to live if we don’t repair this.
Some saw the economic package as the best opportunity for Democrats to enact legislation to address the climate catastrophe and reduce greenhouse gas emissions because of the forthcoming midterm elections this autumn and the possibility of a change in the composition and control of the House and Senate.
Instead, according to Stokes, who has helped Democrats in Congress on developing climate policy, Manchin blocked those plans, endangering Biden’s objective to reduce American emissions by half by 2030.
She attacked Manchin for “stringing along” his Democratic colleagues and criticized him for getting more campaign funding from the fossil fuel sector in the last year than any other member of Congress.
According to Stokes, “He doesn’t care about the people of America or the world his grandchildren will live on.”
Joe Manchin “betrayed” the American people, according to Jamal Raad, executive director of the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action.
Raad stated in a statement that “the failure of this reconciliation package is not about Congressional power or politics, it’s about the real lives of millions of Americans who will be damaged or lost by the irrevocable damage from the climate crisis.”
Climate campaigners, however, who were scathing in their evaluations of the current political climate, said the setback was no reason to give trying.
Foley expressed his sadness at yet another significant climate bill failing to pass but added that there are still ways for the government to implement effective policies to combat global warming.
He stated, “I would really love to see Biden go through the current federal budget and seek for chances to direct financing to climate efforts now, in smaller chunks, utilizing existing money.
According to Foley, such initiatives could entail mandating that all vehicles acquired by the federal government be electric vehicles or allocating a portion of the Department of Energy’s budget for climate mitigation initiatives.
The Hip Hop Caucus will concentrate on exerting pressure on representatives of all tiers of government, including local politicians, state legislators, and members of Congress. stated Walton.
And if those elected officials don’t do anything, citizens should feel free to elect new representatives, according to Walton.
He declared, “We need to take it to the streets and take it to the polls.”
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