On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin was asked about the carbon tax when the senator expressed his opposition in including the carbon tax for the massive social spending plan of the Democrats.
According to a recently published article in The Hill, Manchin had said that the idea was not under discussion, and the carbon tax was not on the board right now.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) faces reporters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 30, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS)
Skeptical About The Idea
Senator Manchin has been long skeptical about the carbon tax idea and has expressed his opinion way back in September when he raised a red flag on the carbon tax, saying that he heard about the idea and replied with
“Any type of a tax is going to be passed on to the people. Now if a tax is going to be beneficial to help something and give us more research and development and innovation and technology, it’s something to look at,” Manchin said.
Senator Manchin has previously closed the door on including the CEEP or Clean Electricity Performance Program in their massive social spending plan. The CEEP incentivizes companies towards clean energy sources and was said to aim to cut the greenhouse gas emissions of the energy sector by 80 percent by 2030.
Senator Jon Tester, another red-state Democrat, had also said that he was not a big fan of the carbon tax idea, and by the way it was explained to him, the Senator was not sure if it would work.
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Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, arrives for a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. (Photo: AP Photo/ Fox Business)
Needs The Total Unity Of 50 Senate Democrats
To pass the bill without the GOP support, the democrats are using reconciliation. This means that any ideas need total unity from all 50 Senate Democrats. Some Democrats have already started saying that the plan is officially out of the bill because, without Senator Manchin’s support, the Democrats could not get the total unity needed to pass the larger spending bill.
According to Fox News, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said during her daily press briefing that the administration is still viewing the carbon tax as a potential solution. Psaki also added that this was an ongoing negotiation and that senators or members of the negotiation are free to speak for themselves in what they stand.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, has said to in interview on Tuesday that there are areas that they can can find some agreement on and added,
“We want to see something that really shows a national commitment to the climate change issue, we want the president to be able to sign it, and to speak to other nation’s about it.”
October 31 is the deadline that the Democratic leaders have set to reach an agreement for the passage of the spending bill and a separate $1.2 bipartisan infrastructure deal.
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