President Biden said Friday that all of the country’s coal plants should be closed because they’re too costly to operate and can’t be relied upon as a dependable energy source for future generations. “Wind and solar” will replace them, he said.
“I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal plant in America,” Biden said during a speech at communications company ViaSat in San Diego County. “Guess what? It cost them too much money. They can’t count. No one is building new coal plants because they can’t rely on it. Even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of the existence of the plant.”
Biden’s message could disadvantage Democrats just three days before midterms, considering that many of the battleground states that will determine the balance of power in Congress are home to coal plants and the blue-collar Americans who work in them. Pennsylvania has 24 plants, Ohio has 15 plants, and Michigan has 13 plants.
“So it’s going to become a wind generation. And all they’re doing is it’s going to save them a hell of a lot of money and using the same transmission line that they transmitted the coal-fired electric on,” he said. “We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar power, also providing tax credits to help families buy energy efficient appliances, whether it’s your refrigerator or your coffee maker, for solar panels on your home, weatherize your home, things that save an average, experts say, a minimum of $500 a year for the average family.”
The Republican National Committee suggested Biden’s comment was tone deaf to the tough economic transition that switching to wind and solar would require of many Americans.
“Joe Biden celebrates coal plant workers losing their jobs,” an RNC account tweeted.
In 2020, Biden said the switch to clean energy will involve growing pains for coal miners, who he advised should pick up more marketable skills to remain competitive job applicants.
“Anybody who can go down 300-3,000 feet in a mine sure as hell can learn how to program as well,” Biden said in New Hampshire at a campaign event. “But we don’t think of it that way. Anybody who can throw coal into furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake.”
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes many tax incentives for adopting renewable energy. It offers a 10 percent tax credit bonus if a clean energy facility is constructed at a brown field site or a fossil fuel area. However, many coal-mining locations are not conducive to solar or wind power installation, though the vast majority of them can be converted to host advanced nuclear reactors, the Daily Caller noted.
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Read More:Biden Vows to Shut Down Coal Plants ‘All Across America’
2022-11-05 14:12:49
