Manchin Pulls Plug on Climate Spending Plan
By Paul Homewood
This is very significant news from the US:
WASHINGTON — Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, pulled the plug on Thursday on negotiations to salvage key pieces of President Biden’s agenda, informing his party’s leaders that he would not support funding for climate or energy programs or raising taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations.
The decision by Mr. Manchin, a conservative-leaning Democrat whose opposition has effectively stalled Mr. Biden’s economic package in the evenly divided Senate, dealt a devastating blow to his party’s efforts to enact a broad social safety net, climate and tax package.
In recent months, Democrats had slashed their ambitions for such a plan to win over Mr. Manchin, hoping that he would agree to support even a fraction of the sweeping initiative they once envisioned. His abrupt shift appeared to dash those aspirations.
In a meeting on Thursday with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, Mr. Manchin said he would support a package that would include a negotiated plan aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs and an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies set to lapse at the end of the year.
The shift capped off weeks of painstaking negotiations to cobble together a package that could win Mr. Manchin’s support. It came seven months after the West Virginian abruptly walked away from talks and rejected a far larger plan.
“Political headlines are of no value to the millions of Americans struggling to afford groceries and gas as inflation soars to 9.1 percent,” said Sam Runyon, a spokeswoman for Mr. Manchin. “Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to put political agendas aside, re-evaluate and adjust to the economic realities the country faces to avoid taking steps that add fuel to the inflation fire.”
Because Democrats hold the Senate by a bare 50-50 majority, Mr. Manchin has been able to effectively exercise veto power over the domestic policy package, which the party had planned to move under a special fast-track budget process that would allow it to bypass a filibuster and pass with a simple majority. With Democrats bracing for losses in midterm elections this fall, the package could be the party’s last chance to enact substantial spending and tax legislation while it still holds the White House and both houses of Congress.
In rejecting any climate and energy provisions, Mr. Manchin appeared to have single-handedly shattered Mr. Biden’s ambitious climate agenda and what would have been the largest single federal investment in American history toward addressing the toll of climate change.
As I have written before, this is the last chance for Biden to push his green agenda through Congress. The Democrats are certain to lose heavily in the mid-terms in November, and there will be zero chance after that.
Biden’s only other option is executive powers, but the Supreme Court has struck down the use of these to regulate emissions in power stations.
Unless the Democrats win back Congress in 2024 and win that Presidential election, both extremely unlikely with the US economy heading into recession and in a far worse state than even the UK’s, the emission cuts promised at COP26 by Biden will simply not happen and the Paris Agreement will effectively be dead in the water.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Paris Agreement dead in the water! Oh dear, never mind :). As many of us have said all along, physical reality cannot be changed. Perhaps the rest of the Democrats and climate-crazies will now understand that man does not and cannot control the climate, and neither does CO2.
You sound regretful Paul! Don’t you want the Americans to “lead the world” into the green new economy?
Sometimes it only takes one sane responsibly person to make a difference. We can thank Manchin for his common sense thinking. In a similar way we can also thank ALEX EPSTEIN for writing a definitive and important book called FOSSIL FUTURE. If you have any interest in the Energy This is a MUST READ .
I agree about ‘Fossil Future’ but Epstein would have done his argument a power of good if he’d got himself a decent editor. ‘Turgid’ doesn’t start to describe it! The broad principle is spot on though.
Let’s not turn Manchin into a saint just yet. While I applaud his ability to buck his leadership in the face of enormous pressure we must remember he is a politician. He represents a relatively poor state where coal and gas are important industries and employers. Trump won it in 2020 by 39 points (a very conservative place). He is also rumored to have ambitions to run for governor at the end of his Senate term in 2026. He was governor before becoming Senator in 2010.
The story published by the ‘NY Times’ is written almost Pleading for this act to be passed . . .
Journalists the World over, in my view, are the greatest obstacle to the True Science surrounding this whole Climate Change discussion. Michael Mann’s ‘Hockey Stick’ graph based on the findings from the growth rings of 12 trees wiped out Two periods of Climate Change from the record. The middle Ages Warming Period and The Little Ice Age completely disappeared. Common sense and a quick review of Historical FACT would tell any right thinking person that ‘something is amiss’ . . . But NO . . . The Media latched onto this like the ‘Tablets of Moses’ brought down to enlighten the world.
Now 30 years later the IPCC report of 2001 which contained this graph has become ‘The Holy Gospel’ Globally without challenge. Anyone challenging these findings shall be crucified publicly ‘For They Blaspheme’. Thousands of papers, reports, documents and presentations, even Nobel Prize Laureates are publicly denounced for their descenting views. The world we live in is all about ‘Propaganda’ forming Dogma and in turn Zealotry . . . we may as well be in the Dark Ages once again . . . Truth, Fact and Science have no voice among the converted . . . Sad but true . . . this is our New Cross to Bear . . . In The 21st Century . . .
Actually the IPCC’s most recent report AR6 has another Hockey Stick on the Summary for Policymakers. With unbelievable effrontery it does not feature in the text of AR6, it’s there to frighten us. BUT see the sainted Steve McIntyre’s climateaudit.org website where he does a masterly job on exposing this massive fraud – non descript proxies and hockey sticks that go downwards. How on earth the IPCC can expect any respect in the future? I mean, it’s even worse than the dreadful, propagandizing unscientific SR 1.5 that said we had half a degree left before Thermageddon. Why do people believe this crxp
Jim Like you I am puzzled by the almost religious fervour of those driving the AGW agenda despite the predictions made by the IPCC failing since its inception 32 years ago. However, I came across this study that may explain the phenomenon
Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter’s study “When Prophecy Fails”, uses a case study of a UFO cult that expected the end of the world in December 1954. When the cataclysm and expected alien rescue for the believers did not happen, the core of the cult managed to reinterpret the failure into a victory by saying their faith had led God to spare the world. So total failure suddenly transformed into a great victory. Various other examples of this phenomenon – eg the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ repeated reinterpretations of their predictions of the end of the world when it failed to happen or the reaction of New Age believers when the “2012 Mayan Prophecy” turned out to be wrong.
Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter’s study shows that the more cult followers have invested in the truth of an expectation the greater the psychological incentive for them to find a way to reinterpret it when it fails to materialise. The desire for the reinterpretation of the prophetic disappointment is proportionate to (i) the investment in the prophecy/expectation by the believer and (ii) the intensity of the disappointment. The higher both are the more the believer is likely to embrace the new interpretation with increased fervour.
George Carlin is quoted to have said . . . ‘Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups’ . . . I guess that includes Environmentalistic Zealotry . . . in ALL of it’s incarnations all over the World . . .
Jim, He also said “considering how stupid the average person is- you do well to remember that half of them are more stupid than that.”
I have no idea what is up w/ Joe. He is one of “my” senators. He is the king of flip-flop and doing at any one time what is good for Joe. Incessant ads began to run for him on the radio several months ago. Now they have turned to pro-Joe, anti-Republican ads as though it is all our fault.
As Reagan said, “trust but verify”. WV has been burned by this guy so many times. It is nice to see him helping for a change, but don’t trust him.
As governor, I referred to him as “Emperor Joseph”; as Senator, “Joey the Weasel”. He comes from a family w/ nefarious intents. His Uncle A. James Manchin was in the WV House of Delegates, Secretary of State and lastly State Treasurer. As treasurer he led the State down a rat hole w/ his investments and caused catastrophic losses. A.J. looked and acted like Boss Hogg on the Dukes of Hazzard.
The thought did go through my mind that Manchin’s decision was more to do with political bargaining than a principled analysis of the subject.
Good thought process. “Manchin” and “principled” do not belong in the same sentence without “un-” in front of it.
He was re-elected in 2018. Therefore he is not up until 2024 which makes some of his moves a bit more puzzling…..
His business degree from WVU (he was a washed up football payer), is in “information management”…..he seems to do that rather well, especially with FoxNews. His daughter, Heather, was the head of Mylan Pharmaceutical and pulled off the Epi-pen scandal. Due to their shenanigans, Mylan was absorbed and more than 1000 local people lost their jobs.
I often wonder how Manchin is Demotwat given that he seems to possess a lot of intelligence. He is serving his electors well and probably deserves to keep his job. A complete opposite of RINO-scumbag Liz Cheney.
Love the illiteracy — Democrats hold the Senate by a bare 50:50 majority! You what?
VP has the casting vote.
https://ballotpedia.org/Tie-breaking_votes_cast_by_vice_presidents_in_the_Senate
Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to put political agendas aside, re-evaluate and adjust to the economic realities the country faces to avoid taking steps that add fuel to the inflation fire.”
Perhaps Joe understands the economic reality that we cannot go forward to make a needed transition to renewables and electric transportation without using the fuels required by the vehicles that will make it possible? That means more oil for gasoline, diesel and biofuels, not less.
There is though still no reason, no evidence for this “need to transition to renewables”. It’s purely a political wish.
Excellent news. Now we need to abandon net zero here in the UK.
Net Zero . . . and Clean Green Energy are Fairy Tales on Steroids !!
https://www.allaboutenergy.net/270-energy/today/multiple-energy-types/world/3208-clean-green-energy-net-zero-fairy-tales-on-steroids?highlight=WyJqaW0iLCJsZSIsIm1haXN0cmUiLCJqaW0gbGUiLCJqaW0gbGUgbWFpc3RyZSIsImxlIG1haXN0cmUiXQ==
What is Net Zero? I cup my ear
‘There Ain’t Ni Such Thing !!!’
Maybe not Alan-a comment on GB News today ,implied that as part of the Brexit negotiatians we had to agree to Net Zero along with the EU. Could be a problem?
Sounds like we need Liz Truss then, supported by Suella Braverman, to give the EU the bird…
I concur TS. Seems like Suella is the only one who is actually doing some thinking ahead.The lady has my support.
Running into the reality of Sri Lanka, Holland and Italy.
To be fair, Manchin had this planned out long before those events.
UK PM candidates though, not a whisper of NetZero between them other than Suella and Kemi openly condemning the insane policy.
Our next PM daren’t overtly toss NetZero out but it will be gently nudged into the long grass week by week.
Gotta say it. WWGOWGA could be the mantra of climate sceptics. We are witnessing the slow, painful death of climate hysteria. Climate Change will soon be a political dirty ‘word’.
In West Virginia so many jobs rely on fossil fuel industries, if he doesn’t protect them he’s toast.
But Democrats will be eager to find a way to oust him.
Peeking into the future we see the US effectively binning the Paris Accord, the EU greenwashing both gas and nuclear to keep European lights on and the rest of the BRICS-developing world flat-out ignoring Paris.
Where does this leave the gormless, gullible UK? We’re obsessing with COP26 pledges yet nobody else on the planet is playing to our hysterical eco-tune! At what point does sense prevail?
C4 PM leader debate; Tom T claiming ‘carbon is poisoning the planet’. Jesus H Christ.
Someone send him a copy of Scafetta’s ‘unalarming’ climate model study…
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022GL097716 (March 2022)
Perhaps Manchin is playing a game…….:https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/07/15/cunning-senator-manchin-tricks-west-virginia-voters-senator-stalls-500-billion-green-new-deal-energy-legislation-democrats-demand-removal-from-chair-of-energy-committee/
Not really all that relevant to Manchin personally although relevant to their not getting their way on various issues.
Some Dems, such as this author, have just completely lost it. I would guess that Manchin will be facing his share of this venom …
The Democratic party must reorient itself around radical democratic reforms and disempowering the supreme court, the Senate, and state governments. This is both necessary and inevitable. If Biden doesn’t do it, the next Democrat will need to.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/15/democrats-are-facing-asymmetrical-warfare-its-time-to-wake-up-and-fight-back
I’m afraid this is another manifestation of the post COVID overgoverned nanny state that we are doomed with.