Are Biden’s climate ambitions in Congress dead?

07/19/22 • 25 min

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On the Carbon Copy podcast this week:

The hits to President Biden's climate ambitions keep on coming. Two years ago, Biden put forward a $2 trillion climate plan. After Democrats failed to move a bill forward last year, that package was whittled down to $300 billion.

This spring was supposed to be the moment that package passed. And then spring turned into summer. Now, as lawmakers prepare to clear out and head off for their August break, it looks like the passage of a climate bill of any size is unlikely — thanks to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D).

Senator Manchin has nearly killed his party's chance of doing something big on climate. The window of opportunity for legislation is closing — and it could bring a painful end to Biden's stalled agenda. What options are left?

The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

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On the Carbon Copy podcast this week:

The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

Previous Episode

Are Biden’s climate ambitions in Congress dead?

The hits to Joe Biden's climate ambitions keep on coming. Two years ago, Biden put forward a $2 trillion climate plan. After Democrats failed to move a bill forward last year, that package was whittled down to $300 billion.

This spring was supposed to be the moment that package passed. And then spring turned into summer. And now, as lawmakers prepare to clear out for August, it looks like any size climate bill is unlikely – thanks to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

Senator Manchin has nearly killed his party's chance of doing something big on climate. The window of opportunity for legislation is closing – and it could bring a painful end to Biden's stalled agenda. What options are left?

The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

Next Episode

A heat limit ‘no meteorologist thought we would cross’

Last Tuesday, the thermometer at London's Heathrow airport clocked in at 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40.2 degrees Celsius. The airport runway melted. More than a dozen wildfires broke out across London, while tens of thousands evacuated from wildfires in Spain, France, and Portugal.

And a lot of meteorologists didn't quite believe it – including Axios' Andrew Freedman.

“A high of 104 degrees has always been this limit that no meteorologist ever thought would be crossed in their lifetime in the UK,” says Freedman.

Europe isn't ready for heat like this. And new research shows western Europe is seeing a 3 to 4 times increase in heat waves compared to anywhere else in the northern midlatitudes. And none of this would be possible without climate change.

This week, we're talking about the extreme heat that gripped Europe – how climate scientists understand it, and the best ways to convey this new reality.

Guest: Andrew Freedman, a climate and energy reporter at Axios. Read his coverage of the heat wave.

The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.