Thank God for Joe Manchin

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Environmentalists and progressives raged last night after West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin killed the clean energy provisions of Democrats’ reconciliation bill, snuffing out nearly a year of negotiations and the first major attempt to legislate on climate change in over a decade. Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) yesterday he “unequivocally” wouldn’t support a reconciliation measure that includes climate and clean energy provisions, according to a Democrat briefed on the conversation. The move almost certainly quashes the prospects for major climate legislation this Congress. With Republicans favored to take back at least one chamber in this year’s midterms, it could mean climate advocates will have to wait years to advance the kind of large-scale, emissions-slashing policies that were being negotiated as part of the reconciliation package.
Note: New York Times and Newsweek also report.