The EU's ambitious new coronavirus relief package is a stark contrast to U.S. gridlock

The many countries of the European Union have managed to do what the United States can't.

On Friday, EU leaders agreed to not only pass a $1.8 trillion coronavirus relief package, but to also include a groundbreaking pledge to cut carbon emissions in half. Meanwhile, Congress in the U.S. is in its sixth month of debating a coronavirus package, and could be headed for a total government shutdown as soon as next week.

It took just a two-day summit for the EU's 27 member states to agree on a major climate change proposal that includes cutting carbon emissions by 55 percent by the end of 2030, as compared to 1990 levels. Even coal-reliant countries like Poland were persuaded to agree to the goal after previously holding out. The U.S. under President Trump pulled out of the base-level climate change Paris Agreement. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the pledge, and has focused his first conversations with world leaders on climate change.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In the U.S., the House on Wednesday passed a one-week funding bill to ensure the government didn't shut down on Friday. But the Senate has yet to agree to it, thanks to a holdout from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Paul filibustered a unanimous vote to proceed on the stopgap funding measure, only saying he would back down if the GOP Senate allowed for a final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday, Politico reports. Paul has a history of forcing shutdowns, holding up a funding bill in 2018 as he attempted to cut government spending.

Congress has also spent months failing to agree to a new coronavirus relief bill, with only a very faint light at the end of the tunnel as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) unite over stimulus checks.