Environmentalists are warning President Joe Biden against ditching critical green energy investments and other climate policies in his effort to strike an infrastructure deal with congressional Republicans, many of whom continue to deny the scientific reality of human-caused planetary heating.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that “in multiple rounds of talks, Republican lawmakers have held firm in opposition against key White House plans to address the changing climate, add $400 billion in funding for elder care, and a slew of other domestic priorities the administration is pushing for families and children.”
“This right here is how White House loses the majority, gives up on progress, forfeits the midterms, and abandons all hope and change.”
—Drew Hudson, Friends of the Earth Action
“A second bipartisan group of lawmakers, meanwhile, is readying its own backup plan that is also likely to jettison some key climate and elder-care policies pushed by the White House,” the Post continued. “If centrists in both parties strike a deal, Biden probably would be forced to choose between accepting a compromise that leaves out these proposals, or rejecting a bipartisan infrastructure deal aides have long sought as a political triumph.”
Likely left on the cutting room floor under such a scenario, according to the Post‘s Jeff Stein, would be Biden’s proposals to end federal fossil fuel subsidies, fund the retrofitting of buildings and homes, establish hundreds of thousands of new electric vehicle charging stations, bolster the aging U.S. electric grid, and invest in climate resilience.
Progressive activists were quick to argue that abandoning such commitments in the interest of reaching a deal with the GOP would be both politically disastrous and damaging to the fight against the global climate crisis, which Biden has dubbed an “existential threat” that requires immediate and bold action.
“This right here is how the White House loses the majority, gives up on progress, forfeits the midterms, and abandons all hope and change,” said Drew Hudson, an organizer with Friends of the Earth Action.
Evan Weber, political director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, pointed to a survey conducted just prior to the 2020 election showing that Democratic voters view climate change as the “most important” issue.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT