West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is hopping mad with President Joe Biden again, this time over comments Biden made about coal and shutting down coal mines in a recent speech.
Biden, when discussing energy, seemed to celebrate coal workers losing their jobs, proudly saying that “We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar,” with “these plants” there meaning coal-fired power plants. He also said that “no one is building new coal plants because they can’t rely on it.”
Watch him say that here:
Joe Biden celebrates coal plant workers losing their jobs.
“We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America.” pic.twitter.com/0DZk0MZHa8
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 4, 2022
Though it’s that “shutting these plants down” snippet that went viral, in full Biden’s remarks on the energy transition topic during his speech about the “CHIPS and Science Act” were:
And, by the way, we’re investing billions of dollars and many of you are investing billions of dollars in battery technology. We’re now changing the nature of the life of a battery.
Folks, it’s also now cheaper to generate electricity from wind and solar than it is from coal and oil. Literally cheaper. Not a joke.
I was just — and so we can accommodate that transition. I was in Massachusetts about a month ago on the site of the largest old coal plant in America. 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 their existence of the plant. 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 they’re using the same transmission line that transmitted the coal-fired electric on. We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar.
We’re also providing tax credits to help families buy energy-efficient appliances, whether it’s your refrigerator or your coffee maker. We’re going to put solar panels on your homes, weatherize your home — things that will save an average, the experts say, a minimum of $500 a year for the average family.
In any case, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin sounded off on Biden over the tone and topic of his speech, saying:
“Being cavalier about the loss of coal jobs for men and women in West Virginia and across the country who literally put their lives on the line to help build and power this country is offensive and disgusting.”
Continuing, Manchin emphasized how he sees Biden’s messaging on the subject as being problematic because they ignore the pain that anti-fossil fuel policies are inflicting on the general public, causing them to lose faith in the Biden Administration. In Manchin’s words:
“President Biden’s comments are not only outrageous and divorced from reality, they ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of rising energy costs.”
Continuing, Manchin said:
“Comments like these are the reason the American people are losing trust in President Biden and instead believes he does not understand the need to have an all in energy policy that would keep our nation totally energy independent and secure.
Following the fire and fury that resulted from his anti-coal comments, the Biden regime attempted to distance itself from the stance Biden appeared to have taken, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying:
President Biden knows that the men and women of coal country built this nation: they powered its steel mills and factories, kept its homes and schools and offices warm. They made this the most productive and powerful nation on Earth. He came to the White House to end years of big words but little action to help the coal-producing parts of our country. Working closely with Senator Manchin, a tireless advocate for his state and the hard-working men and women who live there, President Biden has helped get this part of the country back to work: the unemployment rate in West Virginia was 6.2% the last month before Joe Biden took office; now it is down to 4%. The President’s plans are already bringing new energy and manufacturing jobs to the region, and in the years ahead, will continue to create new jobs with projects like hydrogen energy generation. In fact, through the Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, President Biden has already delivered more than $23 billion to energy communities across the country.
The President’s remarks yesterday have been twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended; he regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offense. The President was commenting on a fact of economics and technology: as it has been from its earliest days as an energy superpower, America is once again in the midst of an energy transition. Our goal as a nation is to combat climate change and increase our energy security by producing clean and efficient American energy. Under President Biden, oil and natural gas production has increased, and we are on track to hit the highest production in our country’s history next year. He is determined to make sure that this transition helps all Americans in all parts of the country, with more jobs and better opportunities; it’s a commitment he has advanced since Day One. No one will be left behind.
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