The procedural rules of the United States Senate are often complicated and arcane. That's fine, sort of, under ideal circumstances, but we're in the middle of a climate crisis and Bernie Sanders simply doesn't have time for that shit. On Wednesday, following the announcement that Senate Democrats plan to move forward with a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill, the senator from Vermont told reporters that the package will include a clean energy standard that would require future energy production to come from renewable sources.
The inclusion of this policy is controversial not because of what it is trying to accomplish — in fact, many environmental activists view a clean energy standard as essential to achieving the goal of reducing carbon emissions. Instead, the hang-up comes from the fact that mandate is tucked away in a bill that will have to pass through reconciliation, a parliamentary procedure designed to pass budget-related legislation through the Senate with a simple majority rather than the usual 60 votes.
