50 Senate Democrats voted in favor of the plans, and 50 Republicans voted against them. So the decisive vote had to come from Vice President Kamala Harris. A legislative package totaling $430 billion was approved. Next week, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is also expected to approve the package, at which point Biden can sign it.
The plan came after tough talks with the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, notably Senators Kirsten Senema and Joe Manchin and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer. The result is that the United States will allocate about $370 billion through 2030 for climate investments, which must be paid in part by income from tax increases.
US President Joe Biden is particularly pleased with the investment in climate that he calls “the largest investment in history to combat climate change.” According to him, the plans will, among other things, create jobs in the United States and help reduce energy costs for Americans. According to Democrats, the bill should ensure a 40 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
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However, critics of Biden’s left point out that climate investment is not close enough to meet the 2015 Paris climate agreement’s goals of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. Moreover, the level of climate investments does not matter. After all, these are spread out over eight years and come to about $46 billion year-over-year. That’s less than 6 percent of US military spending, which was $801 billion in 2021, according to the Department of Defense.
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