Biden Official Pushes Tax Breaks For Only These Companies
(TruthandLiberty.com) – In 2021, Democrats began the year bullish over prospects that their new majorities in the House and Senate would allow them to fulfill their long-held environmental dreams. They went big on President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better proposal in the early summer. By winter, it had fallen apart thanks to razor-thin majorities and Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) belief that the proposal was too extreme and too expensive, given inflation rising out of control.
Over the last few months, Manchin has met with numerous GOP leaders to find common ground, especially on green environmental initiatives. In a 50/50 divided Senate, Democrats can’t go it alone without Manchin, and at this juncture, he holds the cards for any energy legislation. That led Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to suggest Congress may ultimately pass some environmental reforms in the form of clean energy credits.
Energy Secretary Grows Optimistic
In 2021, Congress conjured enough bipartisan support to pass a broad infrastructure package. Granholm told POLITICO the legislation was the spine of Biden’s clean energy plan. Still, she contrasted it by saying tax credits would be the lungs that breathe life into the bipartisan deal. The Energy Secretary added she felt hopeful Congress could pass energy credits.
So, what are the energy credits exciting Granholm? In the failed Build Back Better deal, the credits were extensions of programs incentivizing renewable energies such as solar and wind. It also included subsidies for new technologies utilizing nuclear and clean hydrogen energy options.
During a virtual event titled “The Sustainability Imperative: Cleaner, Sustainable Energy of Tomorrow,” Granholm told The Hill’s editor-in-chief, Bob Cusak, Congress would revise the Build Back Better plan to help the US get out from under dictators of oil regimes. She said the Biden administration wants to transition to energy independence (through green initiatives).
Is a Compromise in the Works?
Last fall, Manchin said that environmental policies should be achieved on a bipartisan basis. A West Virginia Senator, Manchin said government policy couldn’t be all in on just green initiatives, but it needed a balanced approach that included Republican perspectives as well as respecting both fossil fuels and green initiatives.
Granholm suggested the administration could get onboard with updated mining regulations. They hope that would sway Manchin to support incentives for electric vehicles, which he opposed over the last year.
Over the last several months, Machin led four meetings with a bipartisan group in hopes of gaining a consensus to move forward with an energy proposal. Still, the meetings haven’t seen a breakthrough, but both sides continue to talk about areas of compromise.
So, stay tuned. Perhaps Granholm knows something the media doesn’t?
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