Conservative Democrat coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin (West Virginia) has announced that he is opposed to President Joe Biden’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to the Federal Reserve board, throwing uncertainty into whether she will have enough votes to be confirmed by the Senate.
In a statement, Manchin said that he is “unable” to support Raskin’s nomination. “Her previous public statements have failed to satisfactorily address my concerns about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation’s critical energy needs,” he said, implying that Raskin’s views on climate are “politicize[d].”
Manchin has provided no other concrete reasons for his opposition. The lawmaker is the most notable. makes millionsIn the 1980s, he founded coal companies and made billions of dollars. has received many times moreDespite not being up for reelection until at least 2024, the oil and gas industry contributed more money to this election cycle than any other member.
Raskin, who is nominated to be the Fed’s top banking regulator, is a progressive favorite. She has been called “a progressive favorite.” a climate champion for her stances that the Fed should be tough on the fossil fuel industry and that the agency should take the risks that the climate crisis poses to the country’s finances seriously; early in the pandemic, the former deputy secretary of the Treasury Department warnedThe Fed says it shouldn’t give subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, which was already volatile prior to the pandemic.
“The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare just how vulnerable the United States is to sudden, catastrophic shocks,” Raskin wrote In an op-ed The New York Times 2020, May. “Climate change poses the next big threat. Ignoring it, particularly to the benefit of fossil fuel interests, is a risk we can’t afford.”
Raskin is a staunch opponent of the Republicans it’s possible that Her nomination is doomed. Sen. Susan Collins (R.-Maine), who is alsoYou will be comfortable with the oil-and-gas industry. told reporters on Monday that there isn’t a path forward for Raskin’s nomination.
Republicans are like Manchin have claimed that Raskin’s views are too politicized for the Fed. In fact, the party is actually quite politized. so opposed to her that the 12 Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee boycotted the vote to advance her nomination, rather than simply voting ‘no.’ Experts described the move to lengthen the amount of time that the Fed board would be vacant as “an enormous dereliction of duty,” especially given the magnitude of the country’s current economic crises, economist Joseph Stiglitz told The New Yorker.
The fossil fuel industry has Lobbying money poured into opposing Raskin’s nomination. GOP lawmakers have no objectionsJerome Powell, Republican Fed Chair, was renominated. Powell has greatly contributed to the success of the Republican Fed Chair. Climate risks not taken into considerationIn decision-making despite huge risksWe ignore its effects on the economy.
The real politicization of Raskin’s nomination seems to be coming from climate denying conservatives like Manchin, who are vehemently opposed to taking action to combat the climate crisis. Experts say that Raskin’s views are far from extreme or partisan — in fact, many financial institutions are already taking climate into consideration.
“Her views are in the mainstream,” Steven Rothstein, managing director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, told HuffPost. “There are over 100 central banks around the world that are part of the Network for Greening the Financial System. They’re all saying climate is a risk. Our current chair of the Federal Reserve says climate is a risk.”
