The Senate Has Passed a Historic Bill Addressing Climate Change

On Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Senate passed a $750 billion climate change, health care, and tax bill that has quickly come to represent a cornerstone of President Biden’s promises—and prospects—ahead of the midterm elections in November. 

Over the weekend, a marathon debate ensued as Republicans attempted to stop the bill’s progress to the House, but its passage was secured after Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her tiebreaker vote to push it over the edge. The final result was 51-50, along party lines.

“Today, Senate Democrats sided with American families over special interests, voting to lower the cost of prescription drugs, health insurance, and everyday energy costs and reduce the deficit, while making the wealthiest corporations finally pay their fair share,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday.

The last two months have seen Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer enter fierce negotiations with moderate Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to ensure the bill passed. “We’ve had an extraordinary six weeks,” Schumer told the New York Times yesterday, while emphasizing the bill was “the most comprehensive piece of legislation affecting the American people in decades.”

Officially titled the Inflation Reduction Act, the bill will tackle issues as wide-ranging as taxes on corporation profits, excise taxes on stock buybacks, and increased investment in tax enforcement. Long-awaited drug reform will also allow Medicare to negotiate drug costs, finally facing up to the outsize influence of the pharmaceutical lobby in setting the prices of prescription medicines.

The revenue raised from these measures will contribute to what is arguably the most important victory of all: A historic investment in combatting climate change. Not only will it be a feather in the cap of the Biden presidency, but it will also mark the most significant action the U.S. has ever taken in that area. The bill will put Biden on track to achieve his goal of cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030, besides also offering sweeping tax rebates for those buying electric vehicles and support for those switching to energy suppliers that primarily use wind and solar power.

A number of non-partisan research groups have suggested that the measures will cut U.S. carbon emissions by more than a third this decade, while millions more jobs in clean energy are expected to be generated as a result of the legislation. “This is the hardest job I’ve ever had, with a 50-50 Senate, a big agenda, and intransigent Republicans,” Schumer told the Times. “[But] keep at it, keep at it. Look at all the pitfalls we have faced to get this done.”