Biden is talking about green energy and jobs in Pennsylvania again. Will his message break through?
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is returning to Pennsylvania to use the critical battleground state again as a backdrop for some of his favorite political themes, championing steep increases in public works spending and detailing how bolstering green energy can spur US manufacturing.
This time, he’ll be in Philadelphia to announce that it will be one of the regional hubs selected to produce and deliver hydrogen fuel that can run factories, ports and other facilities to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The program will eventually include hydrogen production hubs around the country — a key component of the Biden administration’s clean energy plan — and will be paid for using $7 billion from the sweeping infrastructure package that cleared Congress in 2021.
The world has changed since Biden visited a familiar place to talk up familiar topics, though. The war between Israel and Hamas has scrambled geopolitics and potentially reshuffled a 2024 presidential race beginning to heat up. Getting the public’s attention could be a tall order given the focus on fighting and atrocities in Gaza and the Americans among those being held hostage by Hamas.
Other domestic matters also are competing for political attention, with the fight over choosing the next Republican House speaker potentially imperiling continued US aid to Ukraine and a United Auto Workers strike entering its fifth week. On top of all that, the president’s son, Hunter, is facing federal gun charges and Biden himself recently sat for interviews with a special prosecutor investigating his handling of classified documents — though that may signal the case is nearing a conclusion.
