Will spending billions on infrastructure help address climate change? Lawmakers debate new bill

President Biden met with Gavin Newsom and other western state governors last week to talk about the ongoing wildfire season and sell his big infrastructure package.

“It includes funding for prevention efforts, like forest management, and to restore millions of acres of high-risk areas to protect homes and public water sources for drinking. And you know and overlaying all of this is the necessity to successfully confront climate change,” said Biden.

But climate activists and the progressive wing of the Democratic party have major concerns about the legislation. A lot of their big-ticket wishlist items were scrapped from the Senate bill. That could imperil the legislation’s prospects in the House, where Democrats say they will work to pass another more ambitious bill through the budget process that won’t need GOP support.