US House of Representatives passes Inflation Reduction Act in narrow vote

HOUSTON, Texas 

The US House of Representatives passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday along party lines.

The legislation that passed in a 220-207 vote secured a huge win for President Joe Biden and the Democratic party months before the midterm elections in November.

"It is a resounding victory for America's families starting at their kitchen table," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House members. "Our Inflation Reduction Act is a robust cost-cutting package that meets the moment, ensuring that our families thrive and that our planet survives."

The Democratic party came together from all sides to praise the bill which addressed a multitude of issues beyond inflation, including taking aggressive action on climate change, lowering medical and prescription drug costs and reducing the national deficit.

The plan includes a record $369 billion in spending on climate change and energy policies projected to slash US carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030.

It also allocates $64 billion to reduce health insurance costs by locking in lower premiums under the Affordable Care Act, saving 13 million families an average of $800 per year.

The bill will also cap drug costs at $2,000 and allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.

It would be funded by imposing a 15% corporate tax on wealthy corporations. The plan also spends $80 billion to boost the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement and compliance divisions which are expected to yield $124 billion in revenue.

While the measure will not immediately affect rising gas and food prices, it does seek to reduce the deficit by $300 billion in the next 10 years, with total provisions of the bill estimated to raise $737 billion, as well as reduce the overall deficit by nearly $2 trillion in the next two decades.

The bill narrowly passed the Senate in a 50-50 vote with the deciding tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.

It now goes to Biden's desk to be signed into law.

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Source https://www.globalcourant.com/us-house-of-representatives-passes-inflation-reduction-act-in-narrow-vote/?feed_id=10209&_unique_id=62f70de876051

World facing true climate emergency, says climate activist

ANKARA 

Extreme weather events like the deadly wildfires and flood-causing rains simultaneously gripping the world are signs of a looming climate emergency, according to a young environmentalist.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Indian climate activist Licypriya Kangujam warned of the increasing frequency and intensity of climate change-linked weather events and called on world leaders to take concrete steps on the matter.

"We want clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a clean planet to live (on), so these all are basic rights for all of us," she said.

Defining the reduction of carbon emissions as "the biggest challenge" at the moment, Kangujam said another urgent issue was biodiversity loss related to climate change and that both must be tackled together as "many biodiversity hotspots become climate hotspots."

Pointing to the wildfires, droughts, floods, food shortages, cyclones, heat waves, and air pollution that are currently impacting different parts of the world, she underlined the need for "equal attention and climate justice."

"This is true climate emergency ... These are all the impacts of climate change and our world leaders need to act now as soon as possible" for vows on paper to become action to "save our planet and our future," said the 10-year-old activist who was also a leader of The Child Movement, a climate and child rights group.

While the world must shift to renewable energy to achieve a low-carbon future, she stressed, global events continue to make achieving this goal harder.

"Considering natural gas and nuclear as clean energy is unacceptable at any cost. We want to have clear transition to clean energy," Licypriya underlined, referring to the European Parliament's decision last month backing EU rules labeling investments in gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly.

On the move, she said Europe had taken the war in Ukraine as "an excuse" to increase their reliance on fossil fuels, rather than expand the capacity of renewable energy sources.

Simply more 'greenwashing'

The ongoing energy crisis is proof that Europe is fully dependent on fossil fuels and will not quit them easily in the next few decades despite ambitious plans under the Paris climate agreement, Licypriya stated.

Signed on Dec. 12, 2015, the accord sets out a global framework to avoid dangerous levels of climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5C. To achieve this, the Paris deal focuses on lowering greenhouse gas emissions through a system of pledge and review.

The EU wants to encourage private investment in natural gas and nuclear, making it "very difficult" to make the transition from fossil fuels, particularly coal, to clean energy, warned Licypriya, arguing that this amounted to simply another case of "greenwashing."

In response to a question on the main focus of an upcoming global climate strike on Sept. 23, the Indian activist pointed to the climate crisis of the global south.

"We will draw the attention to our world leaders and also to the global media to stop neglecting the voice of the global south when we suffer the most. We want a concrete climate solution now," she added.

On how climate activism has developed in recent times, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, Licypriya highlighted that online climate activism had gained huge momentum during the lockdowns all over the world.

"In street demonstrations, we need physical presence which is difficult for everyone. Now, the participation in climate activism is in huge increase all over the world after the pandemic."

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/world-facing-true-climate-emergency-says-climate-activist/?feed_id=5496&_unique_id=62e8d16fd6a0c