As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, President Biden’s Department of Energy will invest $1.7 billion to support American autoworkers and modernize historic auto manufacturing facilities to produce electric vehicles.
The $1.7 billion will be used to retrofit 11 closed or at-risk vehicle manufacturing and assembly plants to manufacture electric vehicles and their supply chains, covering eight states: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia.
The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act and the facilities will produce high-efficiency hybrid, plug-in hybrid, plug-in electric drive and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.
The plan centers on worker rights and prioritizes long-term facilities.
“This will save 15,000 jobs and create nearly 3,000 jobs, the majority of which are union jobs,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters on a conference call with PoliticusUSA express.
“When I was governor of Michigan, before and during the Great Recession, it became painfully clear to me that the auto industry needed to embrace the future, but in order to do that, they needed a federal partner, especially with other states. Competition Granholm went on to say that as the former governor of Michigan, she should know that nearly 19% of U.S. auto production comes from Michigan.
In his 2022 State of the Union address, President Biden promised, “We will create good jobs for millions of Americans…and we will do all we can to combat the devastating effects of climate change and advance environmental justice.”
Not only does the plan advance President Biden’s Justice 40 initiative to direct 40 percent of investments to disadvantaged communities, but selected projects will provide employment and technical training as well as benefits such as child care, transportation benefits and retirement benefits.
“Building a clean energy economy can and should be a win-win for union autoworkers and automakers,” President Biden said in a statement to POLITICO America. “This investment will help auto companies grow under the same roof.” Factories and communities retooled, restarted and rehired, creating thousands of good-paying union manufacturing jobs and retaining many more — from Lansing, Miss., to Fort Valley, Ga.
The president tied the Domestic Auto Manufacturing Conversion Grant program to his ongoing work to help U.S. manufacturing recover.
“This delivers on my promise to never give up on the manufacturing communities and workers who were left behind by my predecessor and are now making a comeback with the support of my policies, including the conversion grants my government announced today. These grants This payment will help ensure that the future of the American auto industry is built by American union workers. I will never stop fighting for the American auto industry and American auto workers.
As American manufacturing shifted from steel towns to automobile towns, the ability of working families to feed themselves declined dramatically. Investing in American manufacturing is another way to invest in jobs and the long-term security of the nation. The Biden-Harris administration created a record 15.7 million jobs in just three and a half years.
Such investments do what Donald Trump promised to do but never came close to doing: They do make America great again. So, one might ask, why are we going back to the nightmare scenario of the Trump administration, when such investments will not be made and federal resources are sometimes used to settle personal grievances and reward his cronies.
Sarah has been granted coverage of President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and has had multiple exclusive interviews and exclusive reporting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi She made her first home appearance since then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
Sarah is a two-time Telly Award-winning filmmaker and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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