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.
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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.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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