Senate Deal’s ‘Huge’ Carbon Cuts Would Keep US Climate Goals Alive
The Inflation Reduction Act would cut up to 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide and get the US closer, but not all the way, to its Paris Agreement target, experts say.
Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin
Photographers: Eric Lee, Al Drago/Bloomberg
The legislation that emerged by surprise Wednesday from negotiations among Senate Democrats, if passed into law, would potentially revive what once looked left for dead: President Joe Biden’s commitments to curb US emissions under the Paris Agreement.
Climate and energy provisions in the legislation are sufficient to cut US carbon dioxide emissions 40% by 2030, according to experts who specialize in climate modeling. That backs up claims made by Democrats in presenting the agreement between West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. And the price tag alone would make it a landmark in the American response to the warming planet — by far the biggest US climate effort to date.