By Makini Brice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats and environmental groups called on President Joe Biden to take steps on his own to reduce climate emissions after Senator Joe Manchin said he would not support legislation to do so.
For more than a year, Democrats have struggled to pass a sweeping domestic policy bill that would boost incentives to reduce climate emissions, lower prescription drug costs and raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, had been involved in talks for months that would have addressed a portion of that, with provisions on climate, taxes and prescription drug pricing.
But Manchin informed Schumer and his staff this week that he would only be willing to support legislation that lowered prescription drug pricing and would be unwilling to support legislation that included the other provisions, according to a Democrat briefed on the conversations.
Manchin had previously backed a provision to close a tax loophole and extend the solvency of the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly until 2031, after Schumer had made significant concessions on the climate provisions, the Democrat said.
Without Manchin’s support, Democrats would be unable to advance the legislation in the Senate, which is divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.
The White House declined to comment.
Biden will now have to rely largely on executive actions to tackle climate change such as issuing new Environmental Protection Agency rules on pollutants from fossil fuel power plants and limiting oil and gas lease sales on public lands. But those rules could face court battles or be softened or overturned by future presidents.
Environmental group Sunrise Democrats and House of Representatives lawmaker Ro Khanna said the Democratic president should declare a “climate emergency.”
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse outlined a series of actions Biden could take without the need for congressional approval.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons said he was disappointed that Manchin had upended the party’s efforts.
“I thought we were going to get this deal done,” he said on MSNBC.
Manchin’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Manchin, who represents the state of West Virginia which historically has been a big coal producer, has publicly been skeptical about certain approaches to address climate change.
He has also repeatedly publicly expressed concerns about additional spending, saying it could add to inflation.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici, Moira Warburton and Rose Horowitch; editing by Andy Sullivan)
