Manchin Deals Blow to Biden Climate Policy in Budget Bill

A crucial part of President Biden’s climate effort to cut greenhouse gases will likely be dropped from Democrats’ final budget bill because Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, opposes it, CNN and The New York Times reported. The Clean Electricity Performance Program would have funneled federal money to private companies that shift from electricity derived from fossil fuels to energy from wind, solar and nuclear sources. But a Democratic aide told CNN, “If there’s a deal to be struck in the next few days, I don’t think there’s anything resembling CEPP in there.” Manchin, whose support is needed to pass the sweeping economic plan, “has clearly expressed his concerns about using tax payer dollars to pay private companies to do things they're already doing,” his spokesman said.