Following Senator Joe Manchin III’s decision to vote against Build Back Better, he cited climate change policy as one of the main reasons for doing so. In his life and work, West Virginia coal, one of the worst contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in America, has been central to his success as a politician.
He claims that these laws are unconstitutional-that they violate the rights of the states to govern themselves. He also says that these laws are bad for business, which will stifle job growth in his state.
There are many reasons why Manchin is anti-environment. The foremost is the claim that environmentalists and environmental regulation violates states’ rights, and thus violates the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution.
In an interview for Fox News in 2012, he said, “The bottom line is that a lot of these [EPA] regulations are unconstitutional. They’re outside the bounds of what the government should be doing. It’s up to the states to regulate their own environment.”
Manchin also believes that environmental regulation hurts business, and impedes job growth. In the same Fox News interview, he said, “It’s about jobs. We don’t need these regulations that are going to kill jobs in our state. We’ve lost over 25,000 jobs in the coal industry alone.”
He has also said that the EPA is waging a “war on coal,” and that the agency wants to put people out of work.
Manchin’s record on the environment is decidedly mixed. He has voted against some environmental legislation, but also sponsored and voted for bills that would promote renewable energy. However, his opposition to many EPA regulations, and his support for the rights of states to govern themselves, make him one of the most anti-environment senators in Washington.
Is Senator Joe Manchin against climate change policy?
Senator Joe Manchin is a senator of West Virginia, and he’s been a staunch opponent of environmental legislation. But why?
He claims that these laws are unconstitutional-that they violate the rights of the states to govern themselves. He also says that these laws are bad for business, which will stifle job growth in his state.
Even if the clean energy standard is removed from the bill, Mr. Hamilton said he had informed Senator Manchin that the tax credits would be a fatal blow to West Virginia’s coal industry. Even though the clean electricity requirement was taken out of the legislation, Mr. Hamilton said the coal sector saw the tax incentives as a hazard to its survival.
Mr. Manchin recently argued that “the energy transition my colleagues seek is already well under way,” as the price of wind and solar power lowers, freeing up utilities and transportation companies from oil, gas, and coal. However, scientists argue that if the world is to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change, the rate must accelerate dramatically more quickly than it is currently.
Senator Joe Manchin has long been an opponent of environmental regulation and in particular the Clean Power Plan.
