Biden’s budget, clean energy can help mitigate environmental disasters
Sen. Rob Portman, R-ohio. wrote on Aug. 30 about his concerns that the Biden budget will add “fuel to the inflation fire.”
The problem is, our country is already on fire. Can we afford to wait for clean energy?
In 2020 alone there were 22 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the U.S., including rampant wildfires on the West Coast, costing the nation $95 billion, according to Climate.gov. Ohio has spent $434 million on natural disasters since 2008, according to Move.org. We can only expect these numbers to grow.
Just like FDR’S New Deal, President Joe Biden’s plan will help lift the U.S. out of the pandemic by creating jobs to help protect the environment.
Biden’s plan includes plugging oil and gas wells and restoring and reclaiming abandoned coal, hardrock and uranium mines, which pose serious safety hazards and cause ongoing air, water and other environmental damage.
Many of these old wells and mines are located in rural communities like Appalachia that have suffered from years of disinvestment, making final inclusion of this proposal an important priority. This allocation will directly benefit Ohioans by providing union jobs and improving the air quality for us all.
The time to act is now. Most Americans (52%) back Biden’s budget. We need to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
Leigh Cordetti, Columbus