Washington When the White House has to make an unscheduled statement just before a major election, something has obviously gone wrong. The US President “regrets” if he “offended” someone with his words, the government headquarters said on Saturday.
Biden’s appearance at the satellite communications company Viasat was actually about his latest semiconductor offensive, with which the US government is promoting future technologies. But Biden also outlined his climate vision for the United States. Literally he said: “Nobody” in the USA is building more new coal-fired power plants, the nation is facing the “Wind Generation”. Biden then went on to say, “We’re going to shut down these plants across America and we’re going to go with wind and solar.”
No more coal power, all over America? This is a comparatively drastic demand, because Biden’s US Democrats are anything but united on the question of future energy production. One of the biggest coal defenders is Democratic US Senator Joe Manchin, in whose home state of West Virginia coal is one of the most important economic drivers.
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Manchin called Biden’s comments “not only outrageous and detached from reality, they also ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of soaring energy costs.” Comments like the president’s are “the reason why the American people have confidence in President Biden loses,” Manchin continued.
It is “insulting and disgusting” to talk about the threat of job losses in the coal industry while coal workers are “literally risking their lives to help build and power this country.”
Biden stumbled during the 2020 election campaign
As a candidate for the 2020 presidential election, Biden had already irritated with unclear positions on energy policy. He once called for an end to fracking as a gas production method, and later had to make it clear that he was only against “new fracking projects”.
The White House issued a lengthy statement Saturday afternoon, apparently in response to Manchin. “The President’s remarks were twisted and they suggested a meaning that was not intended,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Biden commented on an “economic and technological fact”: that “America has been back in the middle of an energy transition since its inception as an energy superpower,” Jean-Pierre said. The president appreciates Joe Manchin as “a tireless advocate for his state and the hard-working men and women who live there.”
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The senator had often criticized Biden in the past and also blocked several legislative proposals by the president in Congress. A congress package for modern and affordable energy, the “Inflation Reduction Act”, which was passed in August, was originally intended to be much “greener”. Manchin, among others, was responsible in the US Senate for ensuring that the production of fossil fuels also had to be improved – especially in times of the Ukraine war, in which Russia was putting pressure on its European partners in the energy supply.
So Manchin and Biden are old rivals. Nevertheless, it is rather unusual for prominent representatives of a party to criticize their own president shortly before a crucial election. The Democrats are fighting for their slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday, they could lose at least one chamber to the Republicans.
The White House wants to limit the damage
Two states for which coal production is fundamental could decide the outcome of the election: Pennsylvania and Ohio. How important Pennsylvania is for Biden was shown over the weekend – Biden appeared here on Saturday together with ex-President Barack Obama to mobilize voters.
The association “United Mine Workers of America” (UMWA) announced that one could “only contradict” Biden. It’s “easy to talk about ending an entire industry,” said UMWA President Cecil Roberts. “But reality is harsh.”
The White House was trying to limit the damage. “Under President Biden, oil and natural gas production has increased and we are on track to achieve the highest production in our country’s history next year,” said spokeswoman Jean-Pierre. “Nobody” in the industry is “left behind”.
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