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<title>17 October, 2021</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Complex Business of Vaccine Mandates</strong> - Tougher mandates may be necessary—but we shouldn’t ignore the harm that they can cause. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/the-complex-business-of-vaccine-mandates">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Trump Presidency Is Still an Active Crime Scene</strong> - It’s hard to consign the Trump years to the history books when we remain in the middle of the crisis that it sparked. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/the-trump-presidency-is-still-an-active-crime-%20scene">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Mysterious Case of the COVID-19 Lab-Leak Theory</strong> - Did the virus spring from nature or from human error? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-mysterious-case-of-the-covid-19-lab-leak-theory">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Joe Biden’s Afghanistan Problem</strong> - If the Administration fails to help stabilize the beleaguered country, a withdrawal that appeared politically deft could prove damaging. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/joe-bidens-afghanistan-problem">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Jeff Bezos Thrusts Into Space</strong> - While the world burns. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/blitts-kvetchbook/jeff-bezos-thrusts-into-space">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Joe Manchin won’t support a key climate program. Alternatives won’t be enough.</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) adjusts his mask as he speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Gu64ydd5Re5ElD4EMTf76y2tsv4=/396x0:6753x4768/1310x983/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70004893/1345211810.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters in the US Capitol on October 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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</figcaption></figure></li>
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</ul>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The clean electricity program is “the backbone of the energy transition,” experts say.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dkn5W7">
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A key climate policy designed to phase out fossil fuels will likely be cut from Democrats’ upcoming reconciliation package due to opposition from <a href="https://www.vox.com/22709379/moderate-versus-progressive-
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democrats-climate">Sen. Joe Manchin</a> (D-WV), who has reportedly refused to back the measure as negotiations over the budget bill continue.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C0lHTJ">
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/climate/biden-clean-energy-
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manchin.html">According to the New York Times’ Coral Davenport</a>, who first reported the news on Friday, Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, will not support the sweeping <a href="https://www.vox.com/22579218/clean-energy-standard-electricity-infrastructure-democrats">clean electricity program</a> that is widely seen as the centerpiece of the bill’s climate plan.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N5HyNM">
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The <a href="https://www.vox.com/22579218/clean-energy-standard-electricity-infrastructure-democrats">$150 billion program</a> — officially known as the Clean Electricity Performance Program or CEPP — would reward energy suppliers who switch from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas to sustainable power sources like solar, wind, and nuclear power, which are <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=48896">already in use</a> by about 40 percent of the industry, and fine those who do not.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OyfDuR">
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Experts believe the program is the most effective way to slash US carbon emissions significantly enough to prevent the global temperature from rising by <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">1.5 degrees Celsius</a>, a threshold which would have <a href="https://www.vox.com/22613027/un-ipcc-climate-change-report-
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ar6-disaster">drastic consequences</a> for the planet if exceeded.
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</p>
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<div id="h2lYj2">
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<blockquote class="twitter- tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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The Clean Electricity Performance Program is the most important part of the climate bill when it comes to cutting pollution. We need the CEPP to take on the climate crisis. It’s just that simple.<br/><br/>No climate, no deal. <a href="https://t.co/YIl1jZRHWO">https://t.co/YIl1jZRHWO</a>
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</p>
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— Dr. Leah Stokes (<span class="citation" data-cites="leahstokes">@leahstokes</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/leahstokes/status/1449162002723586058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P7PcBu">
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A clean electricity standard, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22265119/biden-climate-change-
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renewable-energy-clean-electricity-standard-congress">Leah Stokes</a>, a climate policy expert at the University of California Santa Barbara, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/climate/biden-clean-energy-
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manchin.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share">the New York Times</a> on Friday, “is absolutely the most important climate policy in the package. We fundamentally need it to meet our climate goals. That’s just the reality. And now we can’t. So this is pretty sad.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B5w43E">
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Manchin’s rejection of the energy plan is the latest challenge to the beleaguered reconciliation package — also called <a href="https://www.vox.com/22577374/reconciliation-bill-biden-
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medicare-climate">the Build Back Better Act</a> — which is now likely to be pared down in response to demands from moderate Democrats like Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have said they <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/politics/manchin-sinema-disagreements-biden-agenda/index.html">oppose</a> the $3.5 trillion in spending called for in the original plan for the bill.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dlfZ1k">
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Manchin’s home state of West Virginia is <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=69&t=2">one of the largest producers of coal</a> in the US, and Manchin himself <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe-manchin-coal-fossil-fuels-
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pollution/">benefits financially from the coal industry</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MnAaUX">
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Manchin’s spokesperson, Sam Runyon, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/climate/biden-clean-energy-manchin.html">told the New York Times</a> that Manchin opposed the CEPP because he couldn’t support “using taxpayer dollars to pay private companies to do things they’re already doing.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Q7M0l">
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In light of Manchin’s opposition to the clean electricity program, the White House is reportedly working to rewrite the bill and and find <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/15/politics/clean-
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electricity-program-cut-budget-bill-climate/index.html">alternative ways</a> to address greenhouse gas emissions.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9DRbU5">
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But in trying to appease Manchin, the White House could alienate other Senate Democrats like Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), who was the <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/4-democrats-to-watch-during-budget-
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negotiations/">chief architect of the clean electricity program</a>.
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</p>
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<div id="jbeajW">
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<blockquote class="twitter- tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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Let’s be clear: the Build Back Better budget must meaningfully address climate change. I’m open to different approaches, but I cannot support a bill that won’t get us where we need to be on emissions. <br/><br/>There are 50 Democratic senators. Every one of us is needed get this passed.
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</p>
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— Senator Tina Smith (<span class="citation" data-cites="SenTinaSmith">@SenTinaSmith</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTinaSmith/status/1449212243376328705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OVtszt">
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“I’m open to different approaches, but I cannot support a bill that won’t get us where we need to be on emissions,” <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTinaSmith/status/1449212243376328705">Smith tweeted</a> Friday. “There are 50 Democratic senators. Every one of us is needed get this passed.”
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</p>
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<h3 id="MZA4cg">
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The clean electricity program is key to addressing climate change
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PAKbPE">
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As <a href="https://www.vox.com/22579218/clean-energy-standard-electricity-infrastructure-democrats">Vox’s Rebecca Leber wrote in August</a>, the clean electricity standard “is a bit of a misnomer because the actual policy being discussed is even more boring-sounding: a clean electricity payment program that pays utilities to clean up their act and fines them for missing deadlines.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J2xISf">
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Boring though it may sound, however, experts say it’s crucially important for two reasons.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Inr5QB">
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First, the proposed program provides a financial framework for energy companies to work within. Manchin is correct in saying that <a href="https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/buying-clean-electricity">some companies</a> are indeed changing over to sustainable electricity production; currently, almost <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3">40 percent of electricity</a> generated in the US comes from a clean energy source, either nuclear or renewable. But corporations are ultimately concerned about their bottom line, and the carrot-and-stick approach of the proposed clean electricity program incorporates that reality by incentivizing companies to make the drastic changes necessary to address climate change — and penalizing them if they don’t.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qtHati">
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The other reason a clean electricity program could prove key to addressing climate change is that it creates a national standard, as opposed to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22579218/clean-energy-standard-
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electricity-infrastructure-democrats">patchwork</a> of municipal and state legislation and individual efforts currently in place. Among other impacts, the program would help bring lagging areas up to speed with the ambitious targets set by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/11/biden-administration-clean-energy-climate-crisis">Biden administration</a>, which call for 80 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030, and 100 percent by 2035.
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</p>
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<div id="CL0pMF">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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That number comes from <a href="https://twitter.com/EnergyInnovLLC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="EnergyInnovLLC">@EnergyInnovLLC</span></a> modeling that shows just how vital the CEPP is for decarbonizing the U.S. over the next decade. Joe Manchin wants to cut the biggest chunk out of the graph <a href="https://t.co/xWs9ZVrbRd">https://t.co/xWs9ZVrbRd</a> <a href="https://t.co/CYVwZm79x9">pic.twitter.com/CYVwZm79x9</a>
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</p>
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— Brian Kahn (<span class="citation" data-cites="blkahn">@blkahn</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1449478028627693571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DgW24G">
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Ultimately, as Stokes and Sam Ricketts, a cofounder of <a href="https://www.evergreenaction.com/">Evergreen Action</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22265119/biden-climate-
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change-renewable-energy-clean-electricity-standard-congress">wrote for Vox in February</a>, a clean electricity program provides a framework for other industries to use sustainable power, too.
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</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vdCAkz">
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Clean electricity is the backbone of the energy transition — the critical piece that all the other sectors will slot into. Not only will getting to 100 percent clean electricity directly cut <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-
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greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks"><strong>more than a quarter</strong></a> of US carbon pollution, it will also enable large parts of our transportation, building, and industrial sectors to run on clean power. Powering as much of these sectors as we can with carbon-free electricity would allow us to cut US emissions 70 to 80 percent. It would, in short, solve a huge chunk of our climate challenge.
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5ZwbOy">
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As Stokes and Ricketts argue, a clean electricity standard would not only be effective at heading off the worst impacts of climate change, but it could work within the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report_smaller.pdf">very limited timeframe</a> scientists have outlined to limit the rise of the global temperature.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5OGqOt">
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It’s also <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/15/22723457/build-back-better-poll-democrats-bill-infrastructure-
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taxes">popular</a>: According to <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/10/dfp-vox-bbb-
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oct12-toplines.pdf">a poll from Data for Progress and Vox</a> conducted in early October, 63 percent of voters support the clean electricity program — the same percentage as supports the reconciliation bill overall.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZyXj8a">
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Despite widespread popular support for the program, however, Manchin has a great deal of influence over its fate: Not only does he hold particular sway as the head of the <a href="https://www.energy.senate.gov/2021/2/manchin-to-
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serve-as-chairman-of-senate-energy-and-natural-resources-committee">Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee</a>, but in an evenly divided Senate, his vote is crucial to passing any eventual reconciliation package.
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</p>
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<h3 id="gSpSI6">
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No other legislation measures up to the clean electricity program’s impact
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f8M5Wm">
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The clean electricity program is not the only climate legislation on the table, but it is by far the biggest and most important, with the potential to bring the US in alignment its <a href="https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/United%20States%20of%20America%20First/United%20States%20NDC%20April%2021%202021%20Final.pdf">Paris agreement target</a>: carbon pollution at 50 percent of 2005 levels by 2030.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JvA8aB">
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The <a href="https://www.vox.com/22598883/infrastructure-deal-bipartisan-bill-biden-manchin">$1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill</a>, which has already passed the Senate, includes provisions like funding for electric vehicle charging stations and for public transit and school buses to run on electricity, as well as $21 billion for environmental remediation — such as fixing the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drilling-abandoned-
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specialreport/special-report-millions-of-abandoned-oil-wells-are-leaking-methane-a-climate-menace-idUSKBN23N1NL">3.2 million abandoned gas and oil wells</a> across the country leaking methane gas.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ApSe4g">
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And even if Manchin succeeds in blocking a clean electricity program, the reconciliation bill will likely still include <a href="https://www.vox.com/22685920/democrats-infrastructure-build-back-better-climate-change">some measures to combat climate change</a>, including billions in clean energy tax credits and investments in public transit and electric vehicles.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="95hMpw">
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But as David Roberts, a former Vox writer and current author of the Volts newsletter, <a href="https://twitter.com/drvolts/status/1449176252389068801?s=20">explained on Twitter Friday</a>, the CEPP is by far the most important piece of climate legislation in play right now, and it’s unlikely that any alternatives would bring about the kind of change necessary for the US to meet the renewable energy and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/22/fact-sheet-president-biden-
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sets-2030-greenhouse-gas-pollution-reduction-target-aimed-at-creating-good-paying-union-jobs-and-securing-u-s-
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leadership-on-clean-energy-technologies/">carbon pollution targets</a> outlined by the Biden White House.
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</p>
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<div id="8gXlpF">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/EnergyInnovLLC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="EnergyInnovLLC">@EnergyInnovLLC</span></a> just modeled the climate & energy effects of the provisions in the BBB Act. The CEPP is the linchpin. <a href="https://t.co/wBbJsOqzYD">https://t.co/wBbJsOqzYD</a> <a href="https://t.co/Q6dZrdjRq7">pic.twitter.com/Q6dZrdjRq7</a>
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</p>
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— David Roberts (<span class="citation" data-cites="drvolts">@drvolts</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/drvolts/status/1449177018755518465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2021</a>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Em1qvp">
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Raising the stakes of Manchin’s objection to the CEPP is the the fact that reconciliation could also be one of the last chances Democrats have to pass a clean electricity program, or any major climate legislation. <a href="https://www.vox.com/22685920/democrats-infrastructure-build-back-better-climate-change">As Vox’s Leber pointed out earlier this month</a>, the party is in real danger of losing unified control of government in the 2022 midterms, and if that happens, the window of opportunity for climate action could close before Democrats regain majorities in both chambers.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m9vEHk">
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Manchin’s push to cut the CEPP also comes as crunch time is bearing down on Democrats in Congress: Speaker Nancy Pelosi <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/13/new-deadline-pass-biden-
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agenda-is-coming-up-fast/">has set an October 31 deadline</a> to pass both the reconciliation bill and the infrastructure bill, which will be crucial as short-term funding for the highway infrastructure system runs out on that day.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DSfqcW">
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October 31 is also the day that the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-
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meetings/conferences/glasgow-climate-change-conference">2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference</a> begins in Glasgow, Scotland, and without significant policy in place to address climate change — like, for example, a clean electricity standard — it could be difficult for the US to rally other nations at the conference to make similar policy changes.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="odspDx">
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As Rachel Cleetus, the clean energy policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22685920/democrats-infrastructure-build-back-better-climate-change">told Leber in October</a>, if Congress can get serious about climate change, other countries are likely to follow suit. But a lack of progress would slow forward momentum all around.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hMozYB">
|
||
“There is this sense of exhaustion about how long is it going to take for one of the biggest emitters in the world to do its fair share,” Cleetus said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Americans are ready to tax the rich</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Demonstrators stand on the lawn in front of the US Capitol holding a banner that reads “hold
|
||
the line.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/s8GnrVpmw58WPVXqGWzGPur9yjc=/109x0:2798x2017/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69998665/GettyImages_1343307477.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A September MoveOn “Hold the Line” rally encourages members of Congress to pass President Joe Biden’s entire Build Back Better recovery package. | Paul Morigi/Getty Images for MoveOn
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
It’s not always clear what the public wants. But a new poll shows strong support for taxing the rich to pay for Democrats’ Build Back Better Act.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qfhwbi">
|
||
As debate over Democrats’ <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/budget-reconciliation-bill-build-back-
|
||
better-act/">Build Back Better Act</a> has intensified, the $3.5 trillion social spending bill has remained strikingly popular in polls. That may be both a blessing and a curse for lawmakers because it’s now clear that the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/12/pelosi-biden-democrats-spending/">bill will need to shrink to pass</a>. And like Congress, Americans don’t all agree on which of its big-ticket items are most important.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bQeXA6">
|
||
But at least one thing seems clear from public surveys: People want to pay for the bill by <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-taxes-poll_n_6149eebae4b00171834144d5">taxing the rich</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oypzim">
|
||
A <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/10/dfp-vox-bbb-oct12-toplines.pdf">Vox and Data for Progress poll</a>, conducted October 8-12, found that 71 percent of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to pay for the bill. Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans backed the idea. Other tax provisions focused on the wealthy that could be included in the bill — such as tax increases on corporations and capital gains — found 65 percent or more support overall.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8JIfjX">
|
||
Sixty-three percent of voters in the poll said they supported the $3.5 trillion overall plan that includes spending on health care, long-term care, child care, and clean-energy jobs.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="Chart: “Majorities of likely
|
||
voters support raising taxes on the wealthy and large corporations to pay for the Build Back Better Plan”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1cZ7kzenqVLCDNNTxBFG0o09xnw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22926396/image__21_.png"/> <cite>Ethan Winter/Data for Progress</cite></figure></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JjKU1m">
|
||
It’s less clear which priorities voters most want to spend that money on. When asked to choose the <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/10/dfp-bbb-maxdiff-priorities-toplines.pdf">most and least important parts of the Build Back Better Act</a>’s many policies, taxing the rich was most frequently cited as a top priority, with 13 percent of respondents choosing the measure. (The poll surveyed 1,224 likely voters and had a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i9TH2s">
|
||
Expanding Medicare benefits to cover dental, vision, and hearing also showed strong support, with 12 percent of respondents ranking it the highest priority, and another 12 percent picked policies to increase access to long-term care for older adults and people with disabilities.<strong> </strong>Republicans were especially supportive of the provisions for health care and long-term care for older adults, compared to Democrats, who most frequently cited the tax increases and clean-energy measures as top priorities.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l6308g">
|
||
Democrats <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/build-back-better-
|
||
reconciliation-cuts-congress">face tough choices</a> in keeping a promise of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-
|
||
policy/2021/10/12/pelosi-biden-democrats-spending/">“transformative”</a> policies in the Build Back Better Act: Do programs <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/democrats-shouldnt-half-ass-joe-bidens-agenda.html">need to be made permanent</a>, increasing their price tag? Should funding <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/upshot/of-
|
||
four-family-policies-in-democrats-bill-which-is-most-important.html">child care or prekindergarten</a> win out over expanding Medicare benefits? How fast must the country move to cut fossil fuels and fight climate change?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q41w0G">
|
||
This is Democrats’ first chance in years at crafting major legislation not directly tied to the pandemic — and given the electoral map’s skew toward Republicans, it could be their last for another decade.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wMvpVv">
|
||
The popularity of the Build Back Better Act so far may or may not make it easier for lawmakers to get the bill over the finish line. In the Vox/Data for Progress poll, voters were presented with arguments for and against removing a particular provision to reduce costs, such as Medicare benefits expansion or clean-energy policy. Only about a third of voters or fewer supported the cuts. And respondents showed a diversity of opinion on what’s most important in the bill.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EFnTG8">
|
||
That likely reflects the fact that Democrats’ big bill touches on important issues for people at various stages of life, said Ethan Winter, a senior analyst for Data for Progress.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="Chart: “Voters see raising taxes, expanding Medicare, and investing in long-term care
|
||
as the most important parts of the Build Back Better Plan”" src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/_y6Qp4bfKZKvSHMnTBS_7E5giAo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22928612/Screen_Shot_2021_10_14_at_9.35.46_AM__1___1_.png"/> <cite>Ethan Winter/Data for Progress</cite>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Sjlafe">
|
||
Winter noted that a policy like free prekindergarten would be especially favored by a young parent, while expanding Medicare benefits appeals more to older adults — who make up a larger swath of the electorate. The somewhat stronger support for tax increases on the wealthy and spending on care for older adults suggests those ideas are a core appeal of Democratic politics, for both<strong> </strong>the party’s base and swing voters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="81Ismw">
|
||
“People elect Democrats because they will raise taxes on the rich to do modest economic redistribution, and [policies] for seniors are always very popular,” Winter said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UQa7AM">
|
||
Polls have shown <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/voters-want-the-government-to-continue-to-invest-in-job-
|
||
creation">solid majority support for most pieces of the bill</a> as standalone policies. (The child tax credit expansion has seen <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/10/fighting-chance-ctc-support-
|
||
oct1-toplines.pdf">majority approval</a> but <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/575491-1-in-3-want-expanded-child-
|
||
tax-credits-to-be-made-permanent-poll">seems to fare worse in polling</a> when voters are explicitly asked about making the expansion permanent.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vk0is7">
|
||
The bill’s popularity could shift as Americans learn more about it and are exposed to partisan messaging; an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrats-build-back-better-americans-dont-
|
||
know-opinion-poll/">October CBS News poll</a> found that few Americans say they know much about what’s in the bill, and only a third think it will affect them directly, despite many provisions focused on helping middle- and lower-income families.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SvusCX">
|
||
And there’s a potential warning sign for Democrats in a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355838/americans-revert-favoring-reduced-government-role.aspx">new Gallup poll</a>: In a September survey, 52 percent of voters said the government is doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses — basically returning to the average level in the survey in the past decade. In 2020, as the pandemic pummeled Americans and the economy, 54 percent of voters said they wanted the government to do more.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2R5KXh">
|
||
On climate issues, 57 percent of voters in the Vox/Data for Progress poll said tax credits for electric cars in the Build Back Better plan would make them more likely to purchase one.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m9jZor">
|
||
Sixty-three percent of voters expressed support for the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22579218/clean-energy-standard-electricity-infrastructure-
|
||
democrats">clean electricity program that is a key component</a> of the bill’s climate crisis strategy and now appears in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/climate/biden-clean-energy-manchin.html">danger of being scrapped or significantly cut back</a>. When asked about removing this provision of the bill after hearing arguments for and against government intervention in the energy industry, 53 percent of voters wanted to keep the clean electricity plan, and 36 percent wanted to remove it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="DLeI9a">
|
||
Democrats’ bill is popular. So why are they shrinking it?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yRfQMI">
|
||
Americans largely seem to like the Build Back Better Act. Most <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/poll-
|
||
reconciliation-bill-trillion-dollar-infrastructure_n_611c481ee4b0c696810276c1">don’t seem fazed by the $3.5 trillion price tag</a>. The strong support for tax increases on the rich — after big tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations under President Donald Trump — suggests <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/10/kyrsten-sinema-arizona-
|
||
senate-senator-infrastructure-spending-biden-democrats">skeptical centrist Democrats</a> may have <a href="https://observer-reporter.com/opinion/op-eds/op-ed-reconciliation-and-build-back-
|
||
better/article_09c75618-2855-11ec-93e6-4f55bb523e50.html">other concerns</a> in backing cuts to the bill.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Ke4fm">
|
||
The precariousness of the bill largely comes down to Democrats’ very thin majorities in the House and Senate. That gives Joe Manchin, a senator from a Trump-voting coal state, the power to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/14/democrats-central-climate-program-is-trouble/">dictate demands on climate provisions</a> as well as the overall size of the bill.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tVgxh6">
|
||
It also means another centrist senator, Kyrsten Sinema, is a key figure in the negotiations, even though it’s not totally clear what she wants in the bill — and she left this week for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/us/politics/kyrsten-sinema-fundraising-
|
||
europe.html">Europe on a fundraising tour</a>. (While Manchin’s approval in his home state of West Virginia has remained fairly steady overall, Sinema’s resistance to the legislation has caused her approval rating to <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2021/10/04/sinema-manchin-approval-rating/">plummet among Democrats</a> and prompt stirrings of a <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2021/10/14/kyrsten-sinema-poised-to-lose-democratic-
|
||
primary-in-2024">primary challenge</a> in Arizona, a state more evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pL2bxc">
|
||
Manchin, Sinema, and other moderate Democrats have sometimes appeared at odds with each other on tax increases and <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/manchin-sinema-demands-biden-build-back-better-
|
||
deal.html">how to pay for the bill</a>, making things even more complicated.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VrxbBy">
|
||
At New York magazine, <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/why-are-there-so-many-democrats-to-joe-bidens-right.html">Eric Levitz chalks</a> pushback by some House Democrats<strong> </strong>up to America’s skewed representation in Congress and the decline of labor as a lobbying force. Plus, perhaps, old-fashioned stubbornness: Many Democrats in Congress came of political age in the era of Bill Clinton, deficit reduction, and welfare reform. “I think that’s why we can’t have ($3.5 trillion worth of) nice things: Labor is weak, Congress is malapportioned, and some old rich Democrats have annoying beliefs,” Levitz wrote.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ke4Rk8">
|
||
No matter what happens with the Build Back Better Act, it won’t end debates around <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/opinion/democrats-david-shor-education-polarization.html">what pursuing popular policies really means</a>. Even if the final bill is embraced by the public, it <a href="https://www.vox.com/22711083/biden-reconciliation-build-back-better-polls-infrastructure">might not lead Democrats to electoral victory</a>, either.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cdu5Kh">
|
||
But if Democrats are just looking for legislation that most Americans want, taxing the rich to pay for policies that help families, seniors, and the planet seems like a safe bet so far.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NzPfdj">
|
||
<strong>Update, October 16, 9:40 am</strong>: This story has been updated to reflect news that the Build Back Better Act’s clean-electricity program may be cut, and to include a new Gallup poll on the role of government.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The myth of the climate moderate</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4SaptvJVUy_oTO-
|
||
fWUu-9WZPtGk=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70003371/GettyImages_1235616430_copy.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) in front of the US Capitol on September 30. | Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption></figure></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“There isn’t a middle ground between a livable and unlivable world.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ubj5ez">
|
||
After months of discussion and debate, Democrats are at an impasse on a raft of infrastructure legislation that could make or break President Joe Biden’s effort to fight climate change. The rift, as it’s framed in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/us/politics/progressive-democrats-infrastructure-abortion.html">countless</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-faces-infrastructure-squeeze-between-moderates-
|
||
progressives-n1276910">news</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/23/1039987448/democrats-progressives-and-moderates-
|
||
are-divided-over-infrastructure-plan">stories</a>, is between progressives who want an ambitious social and climate spending bill and moderates who have protested the price tag.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KOsOOc">
|
||
But there’s a problem with portraying these disagreements as a conflict between moderates and progressives. This picture leaves out the unarguable scientific reality that pollution is warming the planet at an unsustainable and dangerous rate. There is nothing moderate or debatable about the catastrophic changes that global emissions are wreaking on the climate. In August, a panel of United Nations climate scientists called it “<a href="https://www.vox.com/22613027/un-ipcc-climate-change-report-
|
||
ar6-disaster">unequivocal</a>” that humans have warmed Earth’s skies, waters, and lands.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J5wfs5">
|
||
“It is possible to find middle ground in many areas of politics; I know, because I have done it,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), an advocate of swift climate action, said in a recent <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/575765-markey-
|
||
senate-must-pass-reconciliation-package-before-global">press conference</a>. “But we cannot compromise on science. There isn’t a middle ground between a livable and unlivable world.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xtpJLc">
|
||
A narrative that pits progressives against moderates runs the risk of spotlighting climate deniers and centering fossil fuel interests. It arguably<strong> </strong>distracts from the substance of climate policies that a broad swath of Americans already support.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/Suf1KazU2OrkfE0KspQnQ1SqCpw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22929689/GettyImages_1235615318_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Democratic holdouts Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia have a disproportionate power over the future of the country’s climate policy.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SWAFow">
|
||
To take ambitious climate action, Senate Democrats need every single member of their party (plus two independents) to vote for a version of the Build Back Better agenda, a proposed budget that would, among other things, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22685920/democrats-infrastructure-build-back-better-climate-change">boost clean energy and reduce US emissions</a>. That has put two holdouts, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22704198/congress-infrastructure-budget-reconciliation">front and center</a> in the negotiations, and gives them disproportionate power over the future of the country’s climate policy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aIx7Jw">
|
||
Policy battles like this show that Americans need a new way to talk about the politics of climate change, as<strong> </strong>a range of strategists, pollsters, and lawmakers told Vox.<strong> </strong>Instead of focusing on “centrist” or “moderate” politicians, they said, political observers<strong> </strong>should<strong> </strong>distinguish between the many Democrats who support addressing the crisis at hand and the few who support an unacceptable status quo.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yUXi8p">
|
||
“People don’t know what ‘moderate’ even means, particularly around climate change,” Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist, told Vox. “I mean, you’re flooded two feet instead of four?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="gfxLgs">
|
||
A traditional left-right spectrum doesn’t capture widespread consensus about climate change
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PaKQcn">
|
||
Let’s consider what “middle ground” climate action might mean in practice. The planet faces<strong> </strong>rampant warming unless the entire world takes aggressive action this decade. Only if countries make big and rapid investments to help clean energy replace fossil fuels will it be possible to limit warming to less disastrous levels.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XIiJdM">
|
||
Splitting the difference between doing nothing and doing everything in our power, in other words, does not halt the crisis. This “moderate” path leads us somewhere between devastating warming and catastrophic warming.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="omAX1p">
|
||
Supporters of modest climate action are ignoring the magnitude of the problem, argued Ryan Fitzpatrick, director of the Climate and Energy Program at Third Way, a group that says it promotes center-left policies. “If you don’t publicly acknowledge the severity of the impact of climate change, then why would we expect any of your policy conditions or solutions to be based in rationality?” Fitzpatrick asked.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oiZkVI">
|
||
If you accept the findings of climate scientists,<strong> </strong>he added, “you understand the level of ambition that’s needed to solve the problem.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<aside id="JdImZJ">
|
||
<q>“People don’t know what ‘moderate’ even means, particularly around climate change. I mean, you’re flooded two feet instead of four?” —Celinda Lake</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EDs6MG">
|
||
Research suggests that the so-called moderates in Congress don’t represent the median US opinion about climate change. Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Communication, has spent his career using polling to find out what the public actually thinks about climate. When he’s<a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/politics-global-warming-december-2020/"> looked at the political differences</a> between self-identifying conservative, moderate, and liberal voters, he finds there’s more agreement than you might hear in the halls of Congress.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y0jGV4">
|
||
“The pattern that really jumps out to you is that there’s one group that’s really not like the others,” Leiserowitz said, “and that’s conservative Republicans.” This group made up <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/politics-global-warming-
|
||
december-2020b.pdf">less than a quarter</a> of those sampled. Most of the US voters who are doubtful or dismissive of climate change are politically conservative, and most are Republicans, his research has shown.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="asJueB">
|
||
When he ropes off the conservative Republicans as outliers, Leiserowitz finds a surprising amount of agreement on some core principles, such as support for clean energy. In Yale’s <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/politics-global-warming-december-2020/">December 2020 national sample </a>of 1,036 Americans, a large majority of Democrats and moderate Republicans supported generating renewable energy on public land. The supporters included 94 percent of the liberal Democrats in the survey, 76 percent of the liberal and moderate Republicans, and 59 percent of conservative Democrats.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fu8otb">
|
||
There’s also surprising agreement about the importance of transitioning off fossil fuels. The survey estimated that more than 8 in 10 Democrats across the spectrum support a transition to clean energy, and so did 59 percent of self-identified moderate and liberal Republicans.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j4e4Rr">
|
||
“These are relatively minor differences,” Leiserowitz told Vox. In fact, he said, there’s more agreement than disagreement on many policies related to climate change, with the specific exception of conservative Republicans.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<aside id="Te5rXL">
|
||
<div>
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zL67SL">
|
||
Climate<strong> </strong>downplayers and deniers, however, have an elevated role in politics and arguably<strong> </strong>skew the public understanding of the consensus position. While some Republicans are gradually coming around to the idea of climate action, the top GOP senator, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, led a Republican Senate majority that ignored the issue for nearly a decade. “We can debate this forever,” he said in 2014, ignoring the scientific consensus. And when Biden reentered the Paris climate agreement this year, a group of Republican senators <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-climate-
|
||
republicans/republicans-call-for-senate-review-before-u-s-re-enters-paris-climate-deal-idUSKBN29P2WF">attempted to override </a>his order.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qhgV1r">
|
||
This helps explain how the future of US climate policy has landed in the hands of Sen. Manchin, a longtime coal businessman who continues to<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-
|
||
congress/joe-manchin/industries?cid=N00032838&cycle=2022"> receive campaign funding from the fossil fuel industry </a>and <a href="https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/manchin-protecting-coal-industry-while-
|
||
profiting-from-it-imperils-key-climate-priorities/article_be7472e4-1560-5d79-8856-4820700c56ab.html">advocate</a> for fossil fuel interests. Before he was labeled a moderate, the press called Manchin a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/joe-manchin-bernie-sanders-primary-challenge-west-virginia-
|
||
senate-2018/525918/">conservative</a> Democrat; he has very different goals than Sinema, the other senator widely called a moderate in the news these days. Sinema hails from one of the leading states in the solar industry and has publicly argued for robust climate spending in the infrastructure bill. (She has disputed reports that she wants to see <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/climate/arizona-senator-sinema.html">$100 billion</a> in climate funds cut from the spending bill.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lLLCSg">
|
||
As Ezra Klein wrote about <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/7/8/5878293/lets-
|
||
stop-using-the-word-moderate">the myth of the middle</a> in a 2015 Vox story, “The idea of the moderate middle is bullshit: it’s a rhetorical device meant to marginalize some policy positions at the expense of others.” This is what’s happening to climate policy, too.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="l2RsQo">
|
||
What should replace the myth of the climate moderate?<strong> </strong>
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y09dkI">
|
||
The time to take a moderate approach to climate has passed, argued Dana Johnson, who leads federal policy office of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, a climate advocacy group. “If we would have done this 20, 40, 60 years ago, perhaps we could take a moderate approach,” Johnson said. “The moment right now called for us to go big, and to be bold, if we’re going to achieve any kind of meaningful change.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q25uXz">
|
||
She’s not the only one.<strong> </strong>“Perhaps the most politically difficult aspect of climate change is that, after decades of denial and delay, there is no longer any coherent ‘moderate’ position to be had,” energy writer David Roberts wrote in his<a href="https://www.volts.wtf/p/there-is-no-moderate-position-on"> newsletter</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N8g2pZ">
|
||
At <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/163867/manchin-sinema-climate-moderates-extremists">the New Republic</a>, Kate Aronoff has argued that lawmakers who undermine climate legislation are actually extremists: “No one should call them moderates, or even centrists. They’re extremists. If they have their way, they’re going to get a lot of people killed.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A8l9r9">
|
||
Instead, it’s time to judge politicians on the level of their ambition, and the extent to which they prioritize the planet’s climat<em>e. </em>Leaders who aren’t ready to accelerate a transition to clean energy, and publicly recognize that fossil fuels cannot be the dominant fuel of the future, effectively support a dangerous status quo. Politicians who block climate action are more or less on the same side as fossil fuels.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J2vv7FDT1atv3DVXuigI-
|
||
Wp9hEA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22929734/GettyImages_1346211873_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Climate demonstrators march toward the White House to urge President Biden to ban fossil fuels on October 12.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="atui2Z">
|
||
Some climate policies genuinely divide Democrats, such as investments in <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/13/green-schism-biden-
|
||
climate-plan-488037">nuclear power and carbon-capture technology</a>. Many progressive environmentalists are skeptical of both.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EEurHq">
|
||
A new framing for the politics of climate change would not ignore these policy debates. It’s possible to agree about the reality and urgency of climate change while disagreeing about the best strategies to stop it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VFbAIV">
|
||
Climate change may still become an important electoral issue, as younger voters who care more about these policies start to<strong> </strong>vote<strong> </strong>in greater numbers. “Turnout is going to impact a lot of what happens in the midterms,” said Lake, the Democratic strategist. “And in the 2024 election, the younger voters are going to be bigger than the baby boomers for the first time.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q8khSC">
|
||
Republicans may be reacting to these electoral pressures. “You have a lot of Republicans who have embraced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/climate/climate-change-republicans.html">a tax credit</a> that promotes emissions reductions and clean energy sources,” Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former Congress member who introduced climate legislation in the House, told Vox. “It’s a departure from the Republican Party of just a few years ago, where the most common element … was apathy.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h95KTm">
|
||
When it comes to climate change, Republicans and Democrats can be judged by the same standard. “It comes down to whether or not you acknowledge the well-established fact that climate change is going to cause severe damage, particularly if we don’t meet these emissions goals,” said Fitzpatrick of Third Way. “Whether you call yourself a progressive or a moderate, if you’re serious about climate, we all have to be aiming to accomplish the same thing. And getting that means getting to net-zero emissions by 2050.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9p2Dkp">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DYQitJ">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>T20 World Cup warm-up | India would look to sort out opening combination, Hardik’s batting position</strong> - Against England and Wednesday’s game versus Australia, the Indian team management would look to give the players who are still not automatic choices in the playing XI, more overs to bat or bowl to get a better idea about their current form</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mere formality but BCCI invites application for head coach’s post</strong> - Dravid has already informally agreed during his discussion with top BCCI officials in Dubai on the sidelines of IPL final</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ICC Twenty20 World Cup | Australia wants nothing less than title, says Mitchell Starc</strong> - Australia have just six wins from their last 21 games in T20 cricket and have lost five consecutive series</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ICC Twenty20 World Cup | Former champions Sri Lanka clash with fast-rising Namibia</strong> - Sri Lanka’s first rivals Namibia are returning to World Cup stage after competing in the 2003 edition.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ICC T20 World Cup | Ireland faces tough Netherlands in their opener</strong> - Ireland have registered World Cup victories over Pakistan, England, West Indies and Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in T20 World cup.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Punjab CM launches ‘Mera Ghar Mere Naam’ scheme</strong> - He said that earlier this scheme was launched only for the residents of villages but now it is being extended to the eligible residents of the cities</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nokkukooli not a right, says Rajeeve</strong> - Minister calls for creation of new opportunities for workers</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sonia’s firm stand seeks to formalise Rahul’s role whether or not he enjoys any formal position</strong> - It is also a clear message to G-23 leaders, who are seeking internal reforms, that she is still the boss</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Political parties, civil society in Tripura condemn Bangladesh violence against Hindus</strong> - Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina earlier said action will be taken again those trying to “disturb communal harmony”</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bommai campaigns in Hangal, holds meeting at Shivakumar Udasi’s house</strong> - The CM used the opportunity to send a message that the Udasi family members were actively involved in the campaign.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Macron condemns ‘unforgivable’ 1961 massacre of Algerians in Paris</strong> - The 1961 Paris massacre was denied or concealed by French governments for decades.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>BBC’s Rainsford can return if Russian journalists gets UK visas - ambassador</strong> - Ambassador Andrei Kelin says the BBC reporter can return if Russian journalists gets UK visas.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russian team back on Earth after filming first movie in space</strong> - The Russian film crew return after an ISS shoot that had its own moments of drama.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dormice favoured by Italian mafia seized in drugs raid</strong> - Italian police search a cannabis farm and seize a stash of 235 frozen dormice - a mafia delicacy.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid: Russia’s daily deaths pass 1,000 for first time</strong> - Infections continue to soar as the Kremlin struggles to persuade people to get vaccinated.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Robert Pattinson broods and batters his way through new The Batman trailer</strong> - Also: Is that Michael Keaton returning as Batman in sneak peek for <em>The Flash</em> film? - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1804748">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>John Cena shows off comedic chops in extended teaser for Peacemaker series</strong> - “We’re born killers. What separates us from other killers is we only kill bad people. Usually.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1804724">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds exhibit comes to LA’s Skirball Center</strong> - Spaceship models, Kirk’s captain’s chair, plenty of props—and so many Tribbles - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1796392">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Every: When Big Tech rules all, don’t say Dave Eggers didn’t warn us</strong> - Bestselling author talks latest “sequel,” in which humanity cedes control to tech. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1799306">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Weeping Angels are as terrifying as ever in Doctor Who: Flux trailer</strong> - “There’s no use being squeamish, we’ve got the future to save.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1804682">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Guy breaks into a house and finds a married couple in bed.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He drags the husband out and ties him up. As he’s tying the wife up he kisses her neck and then goes to the bathroom.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The husband says " He’s wearing prison issue clothes and must have escaped. He probably hasn’t been with a woman for a while and I saw him kiss your neck. If he wants to fuck you and have you suck his dick, just let him, it’s our best chance of surviving this. Stay strong, I love you honey."
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
At that point, the wife says “He didn’t kiss my neck, he whispered your husband’s cute, have you got any lube? I said yes, in the bathroom. You stay strong, I love you honey.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/thenez68"> /u/thenez68 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9m023/guy_breaks_into_a_house_and_finds_a_married/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9m023/guy_breaks_into_a_house_and_finds_a_married/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>What is the difference between a snowman and a snowwoman?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Snowballs
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/FunnyDifficulty6"> /u/FunnyDifficulty6 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9tsbv/what_is_the_difference_between_a_snowman_and_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9tsbv/what_is_the_difference_between_a_snowman_and_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>One night a man walked into a bar</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
One night a man walked into a bar with an alligator.<br/> He stood up on the counter and announced, “If I stick my cock and balls into this gator’s mouth, let the gator shut his jaws and pull them out without a scratch on ’em you’ll all buy me a drink.”<br/> The crowd looked up at the man and nodded with glee.<br/> So the man whipped out his cock and balls and stuck them in the gator’s mouth then shut the gator’s jaws.<br/> A few moments later he hit it on the head with a beer bottle and the gator’s mouth flung open, he pulled his genitalia out without a scratch.<br/> As he was collecting his first free drink he looked to the crowd and asked if anybody would like to try.<br/> A hush blew over the crowd.<br/> All of a sudden a hand shot up in the back. “I would,” said the blond lady, “if you promise not to hit me in the head with a beer bottle.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ereyes7089"> /u/ereyes7089 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9v1uj/one_night_a_man_walked_into_a_bar/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9v1uj/one_night_a_man_walked_into_a_bar/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A blonde, brunette, and redhead mom go to a cafe….</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
They had each stolen their daughters purses to see what their girls did in their free time.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The redhead mom opens her daughters purse first and finds a pack of cigarettes. “Oh my God, Debbie smokes! I am going to kill her!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The brunette mom opens her daughter’s purse second, holding up a half-smoked joint. “Lindsay smokes pot?! How could she?!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The blonde mom rifles through her daughter’s purse next and pulls out an empty condom wrapper. The other moms stare at her for a few moments before she puts her hand over her mouth. “Holy shit… Cindy has a dick.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Tjaames"> /u/Tjaames </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9h4td/a_blonde_brunette_and_redhead_mom_go_to_a_cafe/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9h4td/a_blonde_brunette_and_redhead_mom_go_to_a_cafe/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>An attractive blonde walks into a casino</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The two bored dealers look at her and their eyes spark up. The blonde then makes a huge bet of $100,000 on a roll of a dice.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Before she rolls, she asks the dealers whether she could take her top off. The two dealers immediately agree.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The blonde takes her top off, and proceeds with the roll. Then, she screams, “I won! I won! Oh my God I did it!”.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
After the blonde left with her cash, the two dealers stare at each other, dumbfounded.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Did you see what she rolled?” One dealer asks the other.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Nah man, I thought you were watching!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DJY_djy"> /u/DJY_djy </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9t4zo/an_attractive_blonde_walks_into_a_casino/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/q9t4zo/an_attractive_blonde_walks_into_a_casino/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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