[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] As inflation has emerged as an urgent issue in the United States, the New York Times (NYT) reported that climate change is not receiving as much attention as before.
On the 17th (local time), the NYT focused on the failure of President Joe Biden's key legislation, the "Build Back Better (BBB)" bill. The main contents of the bill included climate change measures such as tax incentives for solar and wind power generation and subsidies for electric vehicle purchases. The $2 trillion (approximately 2,600 trillion KRW) budget required to implement the bill was to be raised through increased taxes on corporations and high-income earners.
However, after more than a year of congressional negotiations, the bill was effectively stalled. Senator Joe Manchin, a prominent moderate Democrat, changed his stance on the 14th and stated that he could not support the BBB bill if it included climate change funding and tax increases on the wealthy.
Senator Manchin opposed the bill on the grounds that it could worsen inflation. With the Senate evenly split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, the bill cannot pass without Manchin's support.
The NYT evaluated that "the rapid rise in prices, including the surge in gasoline prices triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine, has shifted national priorities, causing the president's climate goals to lose momentum."
Without this bill, it is virtually impossible for President Biden to achieve his goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by half by 2030.
However, the NYT reported that voters, already exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and stressed by the brutal inflation and the Supreme Court's overturning of abortion rights, are showing little reaction.
Meanwhile, a recent NYT-Siena College poll found that only 1% of voters identified climate change as the most important issue facing the United States. This was far less than the responses citing inflation or the economy.
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