Biden pitches new reconciliation bill. What’s in it for climate?
Speaking Security Newsletter | Advisory Note for Organizers and Candidates, n°128 | 28 October 2021
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Situation
The reconciliation bill Biden is now pitching to House Democrats is half its original size with many key provisions defunded or completely removed. But contrary to original reporting, most of the climate funding is still in there, at $555 billion (originally around $600 billion):
Some questions were raised re: “boosting the competitiveness of existing industries, like steel, cement, and aluminum”—but based on the bill text I take that to mean the stuff has got to be produced in the United States.
Comparison
The $555B for climate sounds like a big deal, but the Senate is supposed to take up (and pass) its version of the $778B Pentagon budget for FY2022 next week. That reconciliation bill funding is spread out over a decade makes this a particularly ugly comparison, and even uglier when 10-year spending projections for the Pentagon (endorsed by Senate Democrats) are factored in:
Thanks for your time,
Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org)
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