The U.S Senate narrowly passed a USD $3.5 trillion budget package that would be the most significant legislation to tackle climate change in the country’s history.
What’s in the Bill?
The package, as it currently stands, sets the stage for a flood of spending on electric vehicles, renewable power and clean energy initiatives meant to help combat climate change and wean the U.S off fossil fuels.
The clean energy provisions are yet to be finalized but could compel 80% carbon dioxide-free electricity by 2030 and use a system of incentives and penalties to achieve it.
“The Democratic budget will bring a generational transformation to how our economy works for average Americans,” Schumer said after its passage.
What Comes Next?
The budget resolution passed on a party-line 50-49 vote and final adoption is far from guaranteed.
The package will now pass to the lower house and would need to be enacted in legislation.
It would require the Biden administration and Democratic leaders to satisfy the duelling demands of moderates such as Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, as well as progressives such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
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