President Biden will celebrate Earth Day on Monday by announcing $7 billion in federal grants to fund solar projects and expanding his American Climate Corps green jobs program to include 2,000 openings.
The solar power grants will serve more than 900,000 households in low- and middle-income communities and will be awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
White House officials say the grants will reduce emissions by the equivalent of 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and could save households $350 million annually.
Mr. Biden also will unveil 2,000 jobs that will be the first of his 20,000 federally funded jobs that will be available for young people to get involved in conservation and renewable energy to combat climate change. The jobs will be offered in partnership with labor unions and be located in 36 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Biden created the American Climate Corps last year through an executive order. It is modeled after President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.
The solar grant money will come from the Solar for All program, which was funded via a $27 billion “green bank” that was part of Mr. Biden’s sweeping climate, tax and health care legislation passed in 2002. Federal agencies can use the bank to reduce air pollution in neighborhoods impacted by climate change, especially disadvantaged and low-income communities.
The president will announce the initiatives at an Earth Day event at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. It was established in 1936 as a summer camp for underprivileged youth from Washington as part of Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program to create jobs during the Great Depression.
Mr. Biden’s remarks are an effort to lock down the young, climate-focused voters who supported him in the last election. However, many of those young progressives have soured on Mr. Biden over U.S. support of Israel in its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Upon being sworn in the White House, Mr. Biden pledged to be the “climate president” and took dramatic steps to woo green activists, including halting permits for natural gas exports and steering billions of taxpayer dollars into green energy programs.
But that message is in danger of being drowned out by young environmentalists angry over Mr. Biden taking too long to demand a cease-fire in Gaza. Polls show that younger voters overwhelmingly support more aggressive climate actions, like the ones Mr. Biden has championed, and back Palestinians in Gaza.
Mr. Biden’s relationship with some young climate activists was already tense when they expressed disappointment over the government greenlighting the Willow oil project in Alaska, approving the construction of a deepwater oil export terminal off the Texas coast and allowing more natural oil and gas drilling in the United States than the Trump administration.
Solar energy is gaining traction as a critical renewable energy source that could reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. It is not only clear, but can boost the reliability of electrical grids.
But solar energy is also extremely expensive to install, making it difficult for many Americans to adopt it.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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