Voting as a unified coalition and with the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats passedthe $430-billion spending plan, which will go to the House of Representatives next week, where it is expected to pass before being signed into law by Biden.
The plan, formed in prudent negotiations with members on the right wing of his Democratic Party, would include the biggest US investment ever on climate -- $370 billion aimed at effecting a 40 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
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That would give Biden an apparent victory on one of his top agenda items and restore US leadership in meeting the global climate challenge.
Biden praised the passage of the bill, highlighting the work that went into it -- and acknowledging that not everyone is happy with the final result.
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"It required many compromises. Doing important things almost always does. The House should pass this as soon as possible and I look forward to signing it into law," the president said in a statement. The bill -- officially known as the "Inflation Reduction Act" -- passed the Senate with no Republicans voting in favor.
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Conservative lawmakers have criticized the bill as wasteful spending, with top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell accusing Democrats of voting to "double down on their economic disaster."
The bill would provide Americans with a tax credit of up to $7,500 when buying an electric car, plus a 30 percent discount when they install solar panels on their roofs.
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However, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a group portraying major automakers, on Sunday said that most cars would not meet the bill's electric vehicle tax credit conditions, calling it a "missed opportunity."
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The legislation would also provide millions to help protect and conserve forests -- which have been increasingly devastated in recent years by wildfires during record heat waves that scientists say are connected to global warming.
Billions of dollars in tax credits would also go to some of the country's worst-polluting corporations to ease their transition to greener methods -- a measure bitterly opposed by some liberal Democrats who have, however, accepted this as a least-bad alternative after months of frustration.
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Biden, who came to office with pledges of extensive reforms, has seen his hopes die, then revived, then dashed again.
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Democrats' narrow edge in the Senate has given a virtual veto to moderates such as Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who earlier had used that power to block Biden's much more expansive Build Back Better plan.
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