Biden to Burnish Climate Legacy With Clean-Energy Jobs Pitch

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden will seek to highlight US progress in confronting climate change during a speech that will emphasize the economic rewards of clean-energy investment and draw a contrast with Republicans on the issue. 

Biden will use the address on Tuesday, coming amid the UN General Assembly in New York, to tout the emission-cutting and job-creating dividends of federal climate policies — and invite other countries to follow suit, key advisers said. It’s a shift from a “doom and gloom” message to one of economic opportunity, with climate action luring capital investments, nurturing a new offshore wind industry and restarting nuclear power plants, said Ali Zaidi, White House national climate adviser.

Industry leaders and investors in New York this week know that “in the United States, the case for investing in clean energy has never been stronger,” Zaidi said in a briefing previewing the president’s speech at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. “The economics for climate action are irresistible here in the United States, and that’s going to cascade around the world.”

Investors have announced plans for $128 billion in spending on clean-energy projects since the Inflation Reduction Act was enacted, according to the E2 advocacy group. That has corresponded with a surge in jobs, with clean-energy companies adding nearly 150,000 positions in 2023, the first full year after the IRA was signed into law, E2 said.  

The president’s remarks come weeks before an election that will decide the pace and shape of US climate action for years to come, with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress at stake. Biden is set to draw a contrast with House Republicans who have voted dozens of times to repeal climate policies, including pollution-cutting regulations and incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

“The president has demonstrated that you can produce strong economic growth, create good-paying jobs and reach all areas of the country in this path to decarbonizing our economy,” said John Podesta, senior adviser to the president for international climate policy. “And that’s the message I think he’s sending global leaders: This is doable, we can invest in these new technologies, we can put people to work.” 

The Bloomberg Global Business Forum is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the philanthropic organization of Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP.

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