When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin announced the surprising rebirth of a deal to pass sweeping climate legislation last week, reporters could at first only speculate about what exactly it took to secure Manchin's support.
A few days later, those questions were answered, at least partially: In exchange for a bill that is projected to reduce the country's overall carbon emissions by roughly 41 percent compared to their 2005 high by the end of the decade, Manchin appears to have secured Democratic leadership's support for a separate legislative effort containing a number of fossil fuel industry wishlist items. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine fueling gas price increases, Manchin seems intent on removing bottlenecks in domestic fuel production.
