(20 Oct 2021) House and Senate Democrats stood on the steps of Capitol Hill on Wednesday demanding Congress take action to address climate change.
President Joe Biden is entering a crucial two weeks for his ambitious agenda, racing to conclude contentious congressional negotiations ahead of both domestic deadlines and a chance to showcase his administration's accomplishments on a global stage.
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, sounded an upbeat tone as she addressed reporters. Biden, she said, will go to Glasgow "with great pride because we will pass legislation that enables him to not only meet but beat our goals and to do so in a way that helps other developing country developing countries, poorer countries meet their goals as well."
"I tell you, this is a moral moment in America," said New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. "I believe that together Democrats will come together, will rise up and live up to this challenge we have at this point in history."
The U.S. Senate has yet to take up climate change legislation.
Biden and his fellow Democrats are struggling to bridge intraparty divides by month's end to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a larger social services package. The president hopes to nail down both before Air Force One lifts off for Europe on Oct. 28 for a pair of world leader summits, including the most ambitious climate change meeting in years.
But that goal has been jeopardized by fractures among Democrats, imperiling the fate of promised sweeping new efforts to grapple with climate change.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin's objections to a program aimed at speeding the nation's transition away from fossil fuels threatens the heart of Biden's plans to combat climate change just before he tries to assert American leadership on the issue at the upcoming global conference in Scotland.
The Democrats' razor-thin margins in both houses of Congress have empowered individual lawmakers like Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, vexing fellow lawmakers and the White House. White House aides have not abandoned the clean energy program but are exploring alternate means to string together a mix of policies to cut emissions, officials said.
Abandoning the provisions could wound Biden in Glasgow, at a summit that the administration has held out as a vital opportunity not just to combat climate change but to reassert U.S. leadership on the issue after four years of retrenchment under President Donald Trump. The United States will be bringing a major footprint to the gathering — including former President Barack Obama — but it risks falling behind European nations that have taken more concrete steps to cut emissions.
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