US Senate set for weekend vote on climate bill

The US Senate is preparing to start voting this weekend on a budget bill with an estimated $369bn in spending on climate change and energy security, even as key Democrats needed to pass the legislation remain noncommittal.

Democratic leaders intend to approve the budget bill in "the coming days" before lawmakers leave for their summer recess, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said. An initial vote on 6 August will decide whether to proceed to debate. If that passes, there will be debate and then a "vote-a-rama" on an unlimited number of amendments before a vote on final passage.

"I expect we'll have some late nights and extended debates here on the floor," Schumer said today. "But in the end, we're going to make good on our word to pass the Inflation Reduction Act."

The budget package, if enacted, would be the largest climate bill to ever pass in the US. It would offer hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and direct grants for wind, solar, carbon capture, nuclear power, biofuels, electric vehicles and clean hydrogen. The measure would also support continued federal oil and gas leasing.

The bill is unlikely to get any votes from Republicans, meaning all 50 senators who caucus with Democrats will have to support it for it to pass using budget procedures that will avoid a filibuster. Republicans say they oppose the bill in part because it would raise taxes on oil and natural gas, while also raising taxes by $313bn through a 15pc minimum alternative tax on corporations. The bill includes a 16.4¢/bl tax on oil that will raise money for cleaning up hazardous waste sites, along with a first-time fee on excess methane emissions from large oil and gas facilities.

"American families have been hemorrhaging financially for a year and a half," Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said. "And the Democrats' focus is Green New Deal nonsense that only 3pc of the country wants prioritized."

Senate Democrats mostly support the budget bill that came from months of talks with senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), who also received commitments from top Democrats to vote this autumn on a separate bill to expedite energy permitting. The party sees the bill as their best way to deliver on their policy agenda while they still hold unified control of Congress and the White House.

But senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) has yet to say if she will support the bill as drafted, raising the prospect that Democrats may need to make tweaks to pin down her vote. Progressive senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on 3 August faulted the bill for including a "huge giveaway" to the fossil fuel industry.

The last-minute action on the budget agreement — which Manchin unveiled about a week ago — has left limited time for further negotiations over what was included in the 725-page bill. The Senate has a 30 September deadline to pass the budget, and any Democratic absences in the 50-50 Senate could threaten the ability for it to pass.

Among the parts of the budget drawing scrutiny is language purportedly expanding an existing federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for electric and other clean vehicles, which under existing law is phased out after an automaker sells 200,000 vehicles. Democrats wanted to eliminate the cap to encourage the switch to electric vehicles.

But Manchin made changes to that tax credit based on concerns that China has grown dominant in supplying the battery parts used in electric vehicles. The bill would say automakers will only qualify for the $7,500 tax credit if they get most of those parts domestically or from countries with which the US has a free trade deal.

US automakers say that requirement will mean few vehicles will initially be eligible for the tax credit, since it could take years to build up new supply chains, while some automakers that have yet to hit the 200,000 cap could lose the tax benefit. General Motors chief executive Mary Barra said today she was appreciative of the budget's tax credit for electric vehicles, although "some of the goals cannot be achieved overnight."

If the budget bill is passed in the Senate, it would then advance to the US House of Representatives for a vote. President Joe Biden has been pushing in support of the bill, which he says would reduce an average family's energy bills by an average of $500/year and help address climate change.

By Chris Knight