Oh Well!! 64% Of Mfg And Investment In Offshore Wind (Which Shitstain Hates) Is Located In Republican Districts [View all]

Three days before President Trump took office, an undersea-cable company abandoned plans to build a plant that would employ up to 350 people in Somerset, Massachusetts. Media outlets were quick to spotlight the loss as a specter of what’s to come for the offshore wind industry that Trump put on ice with the stroke of a pen last week.

It’s a reminder that Trump’s attempts to kill the offshore wind industry threaten not just the decarbonization plans of a few states, but job opportunities for a wide array of Americans. In fact, over 64% of the offshore wind manufacturing and supply-chain investments made or announced are in Republican congressional districts, according to data from industry group Oceantic Network. The 64% statistic describes mostly private investment into offshore wind but also includes some public investment, including money flowing in from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s cornerstone climate law and a favorite target of Trump. In total, $3.4 billion has either been invested in or pledged to Republican districts to build a domestic offshore wind supply chain.

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Some Republican lawmakers continue to back the tax credits that are enabling this boom in clean energy installation and manufacturing, even as a potential repeal effort from Trump looms. On Wednesday, eight lawmakers testified at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing that IRA funds and tax credits brought jobs to their districts, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Iowa, who mentioned wind-power supply chains in her defense of a key manufacturing tax credit known as 45X. “This credit is powering a resurgence in domestic clean energy manufacturing, including in Republican districts,” testified Miller-Meeks. ​“From wind turbine blades to solar panels to battery components, 45X is helping the U.S. build resilient supply chains.”

Union leaders and labor advocates have pointed to this Republican support for certain IRA incentives — and the historic success of the onshore wind industry in Republican states — as reasons to remain hopeful about offshore wind–related jobs. But that may ultimately prove optimistic. No Republican lawmaker has publicly warned about manufacturing jobs that could disappear from their districts due to Trump’s anti-wind executive order. Nor has any Republican publicly addressed how Trump’s anti-wind crusade might help further China’s lead on manufacturing clean energy technologies. In fact, on the heels of Trump’s executive order last week, Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho, doubled down, noting that the GOP’s new energy philosophy could be summarized as follows: ​“All of the above, except wind.”

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Ed. Oh well! Oh, and fuck y'all!!!

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/offshore-wind/trumps-offshore-wind-assault-threatens-factory-jobs-in-gop-districts