Opinion

Manchin Blocking Biden’s Climate Plan a Step Back in the Fight Against Global Warming

Over the past few decades, climate change has proven to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest obstacle that not only Americans, but the entire world faces, as it threatens not only animals and species in danger of being extinct, but also humanity.

One person who seems to recognize this is President Joe Biden, who ever since being sworn into office in January, has made it his mission to fight the ongoing threat of climate change. This includes bringing the United States back into the Paris Agreement, an agreement shared between countries around the world that looks to help mitigate global warming, and attempting to pass a $3.5 trillion Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), which, according to Slate.com, is an “ambitious proposal” meant to require power companies to cut their emissions.

While Biden’s efforts have, for the most part, been in good intentions for the future of our planet, not everyone seems to be on board with his plan, as the CEPP was unable to be passed due to United States Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia blocking Biden’s electricity program. Also, Manchin has reportedly worked to preserve billions of dollars in subsidies for fossil fuel companies, such as in the oil and gas industry, per The Intercept. As everyone who knows about climate change probably knows by now, fossil fuels are probably the biggest driver of the climate crisis.

So obviously, if you even care remotely about not only the future of our planet, but also the future of humanity, you know that this move by Manchin can only mean bad things for our planet. The idea that someone in politics could even think of blocking a plan meant to help mitigate climate change, especially given the data we’ve been given by experts and scientists on this particular issue, is insane and completely disregards the future generations who are most at risk to the crisis (looking at you, Trump).

Politicians are supposed to protect us, and as we’ve seen throughout the years, they have simply failed to do so. In fact, one of the first times we actually saw someone in U.S. politics actually address the issue was when Barack Obama was commander-in-chief. We took a huge step backwards during the presidency of Donald Trump, as he seemed to favor the fossil fuel industries in most, if not all, of his policies, and Biden has been refused his big step forward by someone in his own political party.

If anything, politicians should take this as a lesson to be learned, and start to actually recognize the situation at hand. Because, if they don’t, it will be too late. The man in charge of our country seems to be taking this issue head-on, but he still needs more help to see his vision of a brighter future come true. So, let’s get out there and rally the people in office to do what they should be doing and protect the very Earth they inhabit, and have been ignoring for far too long.

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