Sierra – In mid-October, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democrat, announced he would forgo the prosperity of his constituents and their descendants by refusing to vote for a climate measure billed as the nation’s last-ditch effort to secure a livable future. Read the full article.
That measure is the Clean Electricity Payment Program, or CEPP, a $150 billion plan that would incentivize utilities to switch to clean energy sources like solar, wind, and nuclear and penalize those continuing to burn fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. Experts say it’s the nation’s best chance to meet the Biden administration’s climate goal of 80 percent clean electricity sources by 2030. The popular program is cited as the pillar for the Build Back Better Agenda—a $3.5 trillion plan to help working families and create green energy. Paid for by a fairer distribution of the tax burden onto corporations and wealthy Americans, the plan could be a historic investment in tackling the climate crisis, if Manchin would vote for it.
“I think the whole state is disappointed in Joe Manchin. Every Democrat I talk to is furious at Manchin, and I mean furious,” says Stewart Acuff, a retired labor organizer with the AFL-CIO who lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. “There is simply no rational explanation for what he’s doing on the Build Back Better plan than lining his own pockets.”
