Wyden Pushes Tax Incentives For Clean Energy As Dems Salvage Plan

PORTLAND, OR — Oregon's senior senator believes that hope for real action on climate change is still a possibility. Ron Wyden believes he has a backup plan now that his colleague from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has seemingly put the final nail in the coffin of President Biden's proposed climate action plan.

"Climate inaction is not an option," Wyden said at a news conference over the weekend where he advocated for a carbon tax.

Live in Portland? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone.

Under Wyden's Clean Energy for America bill, tax reform would be used to force climate change. A major part of the plan is eliminating what he says are outdated tax breaks.

"There are currently 44 special interest tax breaks on the books that are relics of yesteryear," Wyden said, with around a dozen youth activists from area schools joining him "They must be relegated to the dustheap of history."

Wyden said that at the heart of his plan is a simple tenet: the more that you reduce your emissions, the greater your tax savings will be.

"The climate emergency is here and Oregon's young people are living it," Wyden said.