Thanks, Biden — For $1 Trillion In Private-Sector Investment In US EV & Tech Economy
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I recall when the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was passed. Immediately, that day, we started getting announcements of EV battery factories and battery-related factories. In coming days, weeks, and months, we also got news of solar panel factories coming to town, battery mineral refineries, and numerous other production facilities. We got news of battery factories that had been planned for Europe getting shifted to the US instead, and Europe trying to figure out what to do to better stimulate factories on the east side of the Atlantic in the face of the IRA.
As I discovered and reported last night, $988 billion in private sector investments connected to Joe Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda have been committed in the past couple of years. Underneath that “Investing in America” agenda are the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. Those private sector investments include $180 billion for EVs & batteries, $84 billion for clean energy manufacturing & infrastructure, and $184 billion for clean power facilities.
Those are just private sector investment commitments. There are also massive public sector investments for all of these things.
The US had fallen way behind on blue-collar manufacturing jobs for decades. It had also fallen far behind on cleantech manufacturing. Biden’s and Democrats’ achievements in this kind of “Green New Deal” provide reshoring of manufacturing jobs and a boost to US cleantech industries like we had never seen before. They will bring benefits to the United States for years and even decades to come.
In reality, it was very possible that the Biden administration and Democrats would get very little done when they were in power for two years. It’s extremely hard to get something notable through Congress when you have a super slim majority. We could have been here today with this administration being a huge failure, but it was actually a massive success in the most important sectors of the US and global economy. Instead, we can celebrate perhaps the most impactful presidency for rebuilding middle-class and blue-collar manufacturing and hard tech jobs. We can celebrate what will end up being more than $1 trillion in private sector investments, and billions in public sector investments in our economic future.
Most of these investments will probably end up going to “red states,” thanklessly or not. Without a doubt, some Republican Senators and Congressmen will claim credit for them despite voting against the bills. The economy will further improve from these, and whoever’s in power at the time will get the inherent credit for it.
However, before we lose focus on all of that, and in light of the unfortunate losses last night and early this morning, I think we should all give a big thanks to what has been achieved. Just a few years ago, most of us would have considered this impossible. Even as we suffer through other challenges for the next 4+ years, we will be reaping rewards from the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act — none of which would have come about if Biden hadn’t done what he did and won the 2020 presidential election.
It may be a day of mourning for many of us, but it can also be a day of celebration for what we’ve achieved, and a reminder that we can achieve a great deal again after 2028 — hopefully. We still have potential to create positive change and move the country and world forward. “A republic, if you can keep it.”
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