Washington (February 3, 2022) – The Boston Globe Editorial Board today editorialized in support of Senator Edward J. Markey’s (D-Mass.) call to adopt a new climate-first approach to passing provisions of the Build Back Better Act. Senator Markey has encouraged the U.S. Senate to bring for a vote the climate justice and clean energy provisions of the Build Back Better Act, which have been largely negotiated, financed, and scored for ten years, as well as any of the other critical provisions to support working families that can get 50 votes. 

“I’ve been talking to my Democratic colleagues as well as the White House, and my feeling is that we need to pass a Build Back Better package that can get 50 votes,” said Senator Markey, co-author of the Green New Deal resolution. “I am not talking about a climate-only bill. I am talking about a climate-first bill.”

The Boston Globe writes: “Markey, who has experienced climate heartbreak before — specifically, when landmark cap-and-trade lost momentum and died back in 2010 — doesn’t want to miss another opportunity. The way to avoid that, he says, is to take the 10-year, $555 billion climate package, add whatever else is doable, and pass that by the time of President Biden’s State of the Union address.”

This approach is gaining momentum among Democrats, “Climate is an area where Democrats can agree more easily than anywhere else.” Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the key Democrats needed to reach 50 votes, “has repeatedly said [that climate is an area that he can agree too,] and has largely signed off on the climate provisions.”

“As a leader on climate and a long-time domestic-agenda liberal, Markey has credibility with both camps,” the Boston Globe editorial concludes. “It’s time for Democrats to take his pragmatic path forward. That means adopting a climate-provisions-plus approach — and agreeing to say a reluctant yes at the point where Manchin and Sinema decide that’s as far as they can go.”

The full Boston Globe editorial can be found HERE.

###