Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda Gets Second Chance

To revive his sweeping Build Back Better climate-change and social-spending legislation, President Biden plans to make it, well, less sweeping. 

This week, Biden announced plans to split up his Build Back Better agenda into at least two parts: separating the climate provisions from other initiatives in the hopes that it’ll help them pass sooner rather than later.

“I think we can break the package up, get as much as we can now, and come back and fight for the rest later,” he said during a rare two-hour news conference on Wednesday evening, the eve of his one-year anniversary in office.

Last month, a vote on the full bill came to a halt when Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a key swing vote, announced his opposition. Manchin has, however, suggested that he might back various climate provisions, a sign that he may favor a more focused bill.

For green-energy businesses and electrical-vehicle makers, the move brings them a step closer to what will likely be boom times for their industries. A standalone climate bill is expected to cost an estimated $555 billion over the course of 10 years. It would be the largest climate investment in U.S. history. Though, the negotiations have only just begun and the bill may get paired back. Build Back Better, if you recall, started at $3.5 trillion but was pared back to $1.75 trillion after negotiations with the conservative party.

If the bill passes as it’s currently proposed, however, a majority of the funds would subsidize alternative energies such as wind, solar, and nuclear power–which could bring down prices and theoretically make it easier and less expensive for households and companies to switch over. Consumers would also receive a $7,500 rebate on electric vehicles, and additional subsidies for solar panels and energy-efficient appliances.