Something
to Build On
As
an environmental journalist, I spend a lot of my
time reading about, writing about, and sharing
what can only be described as bad news. Yes,
sometimes I am able to delve into truly inspiring
stories about frontline activists pushing for
change, but the big headlines are typically about
rising temperatures, environmental injustices,
climate inaction, and so on.
Which is
why, like so many people, I was caught a little
off guard by Senator Joe Manchin’s Wednesday
about-face on federal climate legislation. After
blocking action for months, the West Virginia
senator’s new-found willingness to support a $369
billion federal climate bill means we may finally
set our country on a path towards meaningful
emissions reductions. It’s taken a while for this
good news to sink in.
Of
course, the bill isn’t perfect — no big surprise
given its backing by the conservative Manchin. It
contains what the Center for Biological Diversity
refers to as “poison pills,” most notably
requirements that the federal government reinstate
a controversial 2021 oil and gas lease sale in the
Gulf of Mexico, and provisions tying renewable
energy development to fossil fuel extraction on
public lands. It also includes incentives for
questionable climate solutions like biofuels and
carbon capture.
Still, I can’t help
but feel cautiously optimistic. If passed, the
legislation would, among other things, provide
major incentives for clean energy development,
fines for methane leakage at oil and gas sites,
and $60 billion for environmental justice
communities to address poor air quality, invest in
climate resiliency, and more. And while it won’t
get us to President Biden’s stated goal of
reducing emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels
by 2030, experts say it will get us to 40 percent,
a significant improvement over our current
trajectory.
To me, that feels like a
win worth celebrating. And something to build
on. 
Zoe
Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth
Island Journal
P.S. I’ll on
family leave from mid-August through the rest of
the year, so this is the last you’ll be hearing
from me for a while.
Photo by: Ian Dick
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