Biden touts clean energy spending, jobs in Minnesota visit
President Joe Biden said his efforts to secure federal funding for clean energy projects are creating thousands of Minnesota jobs and encouraging private investment in manufacturing, while at the same time helping to reduce emissions that are causing the climate to change.
During a speech at Cummins Power Generation Facility in Fridley, Minn., Biden said bills he helped move through the last Congress are working to improve the nation’s economy.
“Federal investment attracts private investment,” he said. “It creates jobs.”
Cummins announced just before Biden’s visit that in addition to adding 100 jobs in Fridley, it is spending more than $1 billion across its U.S. engine manufacturing network in Indiana, North Carolina and New York to update facilities so they can produce low- to zero-carbon engines.
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The Biden administration noted Minnesota has added more than 185,000 jobs since early 2021. Biden also pointed to 182 projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure law and said private companies have committed to spending more than $2 billion to expand or build new facilities.
“The plan is to invest in America, not overseas. In America,” Biden said. “And it’s working.”
Biden mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act, as well as the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
And the president drew a contrast with Republicans and warned of not increasing the nation’s debt limit.
“This ain’t your father’s Republican Party,” he said, noting that he has worked with Republicans in the past.
“Based on what we know so far, their plans would explode the deficit, increasing it by more than $3 trillion over the next 10 years. And they also want to cut the investments in clean energy manufacturing that are encouraging companies to expand and create jobs here,” he said of what he called MAGA Republicans.
“I’ve got news for my MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said. “Not on my watch.”
Republicans reacted to Biden’s visit before he spoke.
“In Joe Biden’s economy, the pain is the point. Biden’s out-of-touch agenda is crushing hardworking Americans with higher prices and lower savings and incomes,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “What’s his solution? Send Bidenflation soaring even higher with his $6.9 trillion tax-and-spending spree.”
