If the Build Back Better Act does not become law it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the US to meet President Biden’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, according to an analysis from the Princeton-led REPEAT Project. If the House version of the BBB bill does pass, the analysis predicted the US would get close to meeting its goal by 2030, meeting it completely in 2035. This follows several other analyses from earlier in the year that reached similar results. The REPEAT Project report also found that the bill would result in wind and solar power expanding at up to four times their current paces, coal plants retiring more quickly, and sales of electric vehicles accelerating. “There’s still a yawning gap between where we are today and where we need to be to hit President Biden’s climate targets. Without either this bill or a climate bill that’s similar in scope, it’s really hard to see how those goals will be met,” said Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems engineer at Princeton University. Democrats are not giving up on BBB or its climate provisions. Yesterday, President Biden reaffirmed he is working with Sen. Joe Manchin to reach a deal on Build Back Better, and Manchin joined Senate Democrats for a special caucus meeting last night about next steps for BBB. (New York Times, CNN, Axios, E&E News, The Hill; Biden: CNN, Politico, Reuters; Caucus Meeting: NBC)
