Trump’s threat to veto $ 900 billion puts major climate laws at risk

president Donald TrumpOpposition to $ 900 billion Coronavirus The rescue package, largely passed by US lawmakers late Monday, jeopardizes the first major one Climate change Legislation to win Congressional approval in about a decade.

Trump has threatened to veto the stimulus bill Includes $ 600 direct checks for individuals and $ 35 billion to fund clean energy projects and plans to reduce the use of chemicals to warm the planet.

The climate regulations included in the deal come after the Trump administration dismantled more than 80 important environmental regulations over four years and just before President-elect Joe Biden took office.

Biden plans to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and use executive orders to expose many of Trump’s environmental setbacks. He is also pushing for a $ 2 trillion plan, which requires Congressional approval, to move the country from fossil fuels to clean energy and green jobs. Trump officially withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement in November.

Although Bidens Legislation is likely to face immense hurdles If the GOP controls the Senate, which will be decided with two key runoff elections in Georgia in January, policy experts and environmental groups say the bipartite-backed climate action in the stimulus package signals that Biden could make significant strides in fighting global warming. It is also a sign that the US will join a wider global effort to reduce fossil fuel emissions to warm the planet.

“The spending bill just passed by Congress, with support from both Democrats and Republicans, points the way ahead,” said Michael Mann, climatologist and professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University. “It’s a positive sign that 2020 could be the year we turned around the corner on climate action in the US.”

The stimulus bill will Phase out production and consumption in the US of planet-warming fluorocarbons or HFCs by 85% over 15 years.

The ozone-depleting chemicals are often found in air conditioners and refrigerators. While they make up a smaller percentage of greenhouse gas emissions, fluorocarbons pack 1000 times the heat storage capacity of carbon dioxide.

More of CNBC environment::
Rethinking Stimulus: How Covid’s Economic Recovery Can Fight Climate Change
Biden will rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. Here’s what happens next

HFCs are used by nations around the world in a targeted manner to curb global warming. In October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda, a landmark agreement was reached by delegates from 197 nations around the world to phase out HFCs.

So far 72 countries have ratified the Kigali Agreement. Despite the support of US manufacturers and chemical companies, the Trump administration did not accept the pact and instead proposed to reset the Obama-era standards to reduce the use of HFCs.

The stimulus package also includes bipartisan renewable energy legislation, which will provide around $ 35 billion in government funding for clean energy projects.

“This bill is the most important measure we have taken to improve the climate of this Congress, and its passage is strong evidence that cooperation in creating climate solutions and investing in advanced energy technologies is supported by both parties and at the same time the am Our nation’s most vulnerable citizens will be cared for, “Senator Chris Coons, D-Del. said in a statement earlier this week.

The legislation includes tax credits for solar and wind power that would fuel Biden’s plan to have a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. The broader bill also includes investments for more sustainable transport and re-approves a program that provides funding for low-income homeowners to upgrade equipment, heat pumps and other household items to clean energy products.

The stimulus package also includes measures to capture and store carbon from manufacturing and power plants, reduce diesel emissions from some vehicles, and finance oil exploration projects.

“Congress has made an unprecedented downside to tackling climate change in this legislation by agreeing to phase out effective HFCs, invest in renewables and extend much-needed tax incentives for wind and solar,” said Grant Carlisle, senior Policy Advisor at Natural Resource Defense Council.

“But that’s just a start,” said Carlisle. “In order to cope with the climate crisis, the federal government must accelerate its efforts to convert our economy to clean energy and away from dirty fossil fuels.”