What’s worse for the climate: Joe Manchin or no Manchin?
Joe Manchin III, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, has been one of the most consistent and fierce defenders of fossil fuels in the Senate — except for one crucial vote.
That contradiction was on full display last week when Manchin announced he would not seek re-election. His decision will have far-reaching consequences, making it more difficult for Democrats to maintain control of the Senate. Manchin could even improve next year’s presidential race by running as an independent candidate.
But whatever happens in those future races, Manchin has already played a major role in shaping U.S. climate policy, in both directions.
Manchin consistently blocked legislation that would have accelerated the transition from fossil fuels to wind, solar and other clean energy. As chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he was a trusted ally for the coal and natural gas industries critical to his home state of West Virginia, and to his own financial interests.
Since his earliest days as a senator, Manchin has owned a company that sells low-grade coal, and as a lawmaker he helped a power plant in West Virginia that is his company’s sole customer, as my colleagues Christopher Flavelle and Julie Tate reported.
In 2021, Manchin became the crucial tie-breaking vote in the evenly divided chamber. For months, he blocked the Biden administration’s landmark climate change law, which provided penalties for energy companies that did not reduce their coal use.
And then a surprise: At the eleventh hour, Manchin signed to pass the bill, renamed the Inflation Reduction Act, the strongest climate legislation in the country’s history.
“His vote on the IRA has unleashed historic climate spending that will reshape the American economy,” said Abigail Dillen, the president of Earthjustice, an environmental law practice. “But the compromises he demanded have cemented the role of fossil fuels.”
A friend of fossil fuels
During his 2010 Senate campaign, Manchin said has placed an advertisement in which he put a bullet through a copy of a bill that would have implemented a cap-and-trade system on fossil fuel emissions. Manchin was elected. The bill passed the House but never saw a vote in the Senate.
Manchin has blocked the appointments of several senior officials who would have prioritized climate action. He declined to support President Biden’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin for a top job at the Federal Reserve, largely because she supported letting companies include the risks of climate change in their financial projections. Manchin has also blocked appointments to top positions at the Environmental Protection Agency.
He was the largest recipient of donations from oil and gas companies in the Senate. according to OpenSecrets. An Exxon lobbyist called Manchin a particularly valuable contact.
Manchin’s coal business earned him a net worth of between $4.5 million and $12.8 million in 2020, according to Senate disclosures. a penchant for driving Maseratis.
The deciding vote
When Biden took office, he immediately tried to pass the Build Back Better Act, which would have committed more than half a trillion dollars to advancing renewable energy. After months of dithering, Manchin declared he would not support the bill.
And then in another plot twist: Manchin and Senator Chuck Schumer announced a surprise deal that paved the way for passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has boosted the nation’s clean energy economy with hundreds of billions of dollars in tax subsidies.
Manchin’s support didn’t come without a few catches. In exchange for his vote, the legislation requires the federal government to auction more public lands and waters for oil drilling and expands tax credits for carbon capture technology that keeps coal- and gas-fired power plants running.
He ensured that West Virginia would receive nearly $1 billion in funding to develop a new hydrogen hub, one that uses more polluting energy sources. He also secured a commitment from Biden to complete a controversial natural gas pipeline.
“To the extent that the U.S. has a comprehensive energy policy that entrenches fossil fuels, that is the price that Joe Manchin demanded,” Dillen said.
‘God will give us time’
When the IRA deal was made, an expert on West Virginia predicted of Manchin: “I think he’s going to say, ‘I used my strategic position to bring back benefits to West Virginia.’ And he will probably do quite well in the next election.”
Instead, not long after the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, Manchin began railing against the law he wrote. Because polls showed that his support for the IRA was costing him support among voters, he said declared he waged a “relentless battle against the Biden administration’s efforts to implement the IRA’s radical climate agenda.”
And instead of taking advantage of the billions of dollars in spending the law will bring to West Virginia, Manchin decided not to run.
The leading candidate to succeed Manchin is expected to be West Virginia’s popular governor, Jim Justice even more hostile to climate legislation.
The Justice Department is adverse to wind and solar energy and is a strong supporter of fossil fuels. He has also appealed to his Christian faith downplays the urgency of the climate crisis: “God will give us time so that the smart people of the world can solve the riddle. If there really is climate change, He will give us time.”
Climate advocates may conclude that the only thing worse than Joe Manchin is the one thing, as the tie-breaking vote in the Senate may not have him there at all.
Nuclear energy is getting smaller
The latest piece in our series on the energy transition takes a closer look at the growing interest in small nuclear power plants.
Across the country, nearly a dozen companies are developing reactors that are significantly smaller than conventional nuclear power plants. The hope is that they will be easier to build, permits can be issued more quickly and they will be significantly cheaper than previous nuclear power plants, my colleagues Brad Plumer and Ivan Penn report.
The technology could provide stable electricity to the grid to supplement more intermittent wind and solar energy. But the sector faces significant hurdles.
In addition to ongoing concerns about nuclear waste, the industry is struggling to find a profitable path forward. Last week, the first major effort to build small reactors in the United States was abruptly canceled due to soaring costs.
You can read the entire article here.
And in a related item, my colleague Kenneth Chang looks at the growing group of companies involved in fusion energy. Fusion power, which creates energy by blowing up a tiny bit of hydrogen with lasers to cause a small, controlled thermonuclear explosion, isn’t ready for prime time yet. But its supporters say if it can be made reliable and affordable, it could usher in an era of abundant clean energy.