The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Biden marks Earth Day with $7B in solar power grants
President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change.
The Democrat seeking reelection this year took aim at the supporters of former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
“My MAGA Republican friends don’t seem to think it’s a crisis,” Biden said Monday at the Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. “They actually want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides the funding for the vast majority of these projects, and roll back protections for clean air and clean water.”
The Biden administration also announced plans to expand its New Deal-style American Climate Corps green jobs training program.
The solar grants are being awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency. The projects are expected to eventually reduce emissions by the equivalent of 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and save households $350 million annually, according to senior administration officials.
Biden’s latest environmental announcements come as he is working to energize young voters for his reelection campaign. Young people were a key part of a broad but potentially fragile coalition that helped him defeat then-President Trump in 2020. Some have joined protests around the country of the administration’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Solar energy is gaining traction as a key renewable energy source that could reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels, which emit planet-warming greenhouse gases. Not only is it clean, but solar energy can also boost the reliability of the electric grid.
But solar energy can have high costs for initial installation, making it inaccessible for many Americans — and potentially meaning a mingling of environmental policy with election-year politics.
Forty-nine of the new grants are state-level awards, six serve Native American tribes and five are multistate awards. They can be used for investments such as rooftop solar and community solar gardens.
Biden made the announcement about 30 miles southwest Washington at Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park. The park was established in 1936 as a summer camp for underprivileged youth from Washington, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps to help create jobs during the Great Depression.