Democrats ditching biggest climate-change piece in their spending package, to get Sen. Joe Manchin's vote

Manchin talks with Rachel Scott of ABC News. (File photo)

The final shape of congressional Democrats' "transformational" spending package is becoming clear, and one outcome was easy to predict long ago: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has made the package much smaller, and seen that it no longer has a direct attack on the coal industry, 

The package will not contain a significant part of President Biden's agenda to fight climate change: the Clean Electricity Protection Program, The Wall Street Journal reports. CEPP would force electric utilities away from coal and other fossil fuels, PBS NewsHour reports: "This is Democrats’ attempt at moving toward a clean-energy standard for the country, without creating a strict mandate."

CEPP would require utilities to increase the amount of renewable fuel they use by 4 percent a year. "Those that meet that target would receive federal grants. Those that don’t would pay penalties to the federal government," PBS explains. "It is essentially a way to put a price on carbon use in electricity. . . . Critics lambast the idea as dangerous, arguing that the government is dictating business decisions for a critical industry."

The removal of the program will be a big disappointment to climate activists, because nothing else in the package would have as big an effect on carbon emissions, The Economist reports. Manchin argues that utilities are already moving toward renewable fuels and the program would be a waste of taxpayers' money, and his support is essential because the Democrats cannot afford to lose any votes in the 50-50 Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris breaks tie votes. 

"White House officials and some Democrats on Capitol Hill said they were becoming more optimistic that the party could soon unify behind a proposal, The Wall Street Journal reports, quoting Rep. Ro Khanna of California: “Overall, almost every priority is included.” Manchin told the Journal that a deal is possible by the end of the week.