“From my point of view, there is no climate or trade.
The White House is about 1 trillion in climate-related investments aimed at strengthening the electric vehicle market, making buildings and real estate more resilient to harsh weather patterns, and carbonizing the country’s power grid.
The president is exploring a new definition of infrastructure, not only to improve national roads and highways, but also to rebuild the economy with new types of investment for the 21st century.
When Biden opens a courtroom in a new bipartisan group of 10 senators looking at the reduced proposal, key Democrats are in the House of Representatives to benefit their party on its climate change priorities.
“Climate change is one of the decisive crises we face as a nation,” said Andrew Bates, deputy spokesman for the White House, on Friday.
Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said in a meeting with Biden on Tuesday that he had raised flood resilience and energy supplies that would benefit the state.
Cassidy is from a coastal country familiar with the dangers of bad weather and supports a bipartisan bill that offers tax cuts to real estate owners who protect homes and businesses from natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods and droughts.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is largely silent about bipartisan efforts, other Republican leaders are calm in this latest negotiation, and five Republican colleagues may find a compromise.
“What you have to do to get a Democratic vote will be hard to get a Republican,” Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, third-ranked Republican leader, told reporters.
The president is also encouraging the Democratic Party to launch a parallel track using budget adjustment rules that can be passed with 51 votes, as Vice President Kamala Harris can cast tiebreaker votes.
Instead, new bipartisan proposals from 10 senators are expected to include raising the federal gas tax paid by pumps by linking consumers to inflation.
After months of negotiations, Jamal Lard, secretary-general of the environmental group Evergreen Action, said, “10 votes from Republican caucuses” for a large investment like the White House proposed.
Biden administration officials say they understand the concerns.
From his home in California, he said he routinely sees the threat of wildfires and droughts fueled by climate change.