Joe Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act”, which has been called the “Build Back Better-Lite” bill by many, passed the Senate with uniform Democratic support and no Republican votes.
The bill will likely worsen inflation just as Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which was also passed on a party-line vote did.
The bill relied on the support of two swing Senators, Senator Krysten Sinema (D-Az.) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-Wv.).
Senator Manchin ended up supporting the bill, leading to its passage.
Many were initially confused at Manchin’s support for the bill, considering his state’s reliance on the coal industry and that it affects his own personal fortune.
https://twitter.com/JHWeissmann/status/1556365272512176128
As it turns out, Democrats bough this vote by protecting Manchin’s constituents while throwing the rest of America to the wolves.
Manchin allegedly struck a back-door deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Ny.) to make sure that his state would get pipeline permits to finish a 303-mile Pipeline being constructed in Mountain Valley.
The deal also benefits his re-election as many of his donors represent the pipeline industry.
The Daily Mail Reports–
Joe Manchin's backing of the Senate's historic climate bill came with big benefits for a pipeline industry that has become one of his major donors. https://t.co/3dl4tEPFrS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 7, 2022
“Manchin’s stamp of approval was not without concession from climate advocates.
The West Virginia moderate struck an agreement with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who agreed to take up pipeline permitting reform legislation before the end of the year in exchange for Manchin’s vote.
That deal should clear the way for completion of West Virginia’s 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The bill also mandated some federal offshore and on-shore gas leasing – before a ‘right of way,’ or lease, can be offered to the solar or wind industries, the federal government must have already offered up to 2 million acres of land for oil and gas leases in the year prior. This means the oil and gas industry could gain up to 20 million acres of federal land for drilling over the next decade.
Manchin also touted to coal country West Virginia the bill’s $5 billion slotted for the coal industry to revamp plants and make them burn cleaner. “
