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ARTICLE · 02 AUGUST 2022

Energy & Sustainability Washington Update — August 2022

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
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Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

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Starting as a $3.5 trillion legislative proposal to tackle climate change and shore up the social safety net, the Build Back Better Act was eventually scaled back to $2.2 trillion...

United StatesEnvironment
R. Neal Martin
R. Neal Martin
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Build Back Better No More – Welcome to the Inflation Reduction Act

Starting as a $3.5 trillion legislative proposal to tackle climate change and shore up the social safety net, the Build Back Better Act was eventually scaled back to $2.2 trillion before passage by the House of Representatives in November 2021. That still-ambitious plan hit a wall in the Senate when Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) refused to support it, denying Democrats the 50 votes they needed to advance the bill under the budget reconciliation rules without Republican support.

After many fits and starts and intense negotiation, Sen. Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) surprised most of Washington on July 27 when they announced an agreement on a compromise measure – the Inflation Reduction Act – that will make $369 billion in investments in energy security and addressing climate change along with $64 billion for an extension of subsidies for low- and

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