The Biden administration has invested $250 billion in infrastructure and clean energy projects in Republican and swing states, which he hopes to translate to an edge over former President Donald Trump in November.
In early March, the president announced $478 billion worth of projects, thanks to allocations from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The president still has another half a billion dollars available to spend from the legislation and will tout billion-dollar investments to battleground states as he campaigns around the country.
Biden is trailing Trump in six swing states but hopes to sway voters by continuing to roll out job-generating investments. The Biden administration has shared $10 billion in grants and investments with Michigan and North Carolina and $46 billion with Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nevada.
“For decades, the U.S. exported jobs and imported products, while other countries surpassed us in critical sectors like infrastructure, clean energy, semiconductors, and biotechnology,” the White House said in a statement. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda — including historic legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden such as the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act — that is changing.”
Given the large number of investments, Biden’s clean-energy legislation will make it difficult to repeal even if he loses the election. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it is unlikely GOP governors will want to see the investments reversed.
The swing states account for 93 electoral votes, a sizable number that could clinch a second term for Biden.
Biden won Arizona by just .4 points in 2020, and now, polls show the president trailing Trump by 3 points. Under Biden’s agenda, the Grand Canyon State received $8.6 billion, and more than half of those funds went to improving transportation infrastructure, including electric vehicle charging stations. And $426.9 million went to grants, rebates, and other initiatives to “accelerate the deployment of clean energy, clean energy and clean manufacturing.”
Through this initiative, private companies have announced $83 billion in investments in clean power, electric vehicles and batteries, and clean energy manufacturing. Biden said that 340,400 jobs were created in Arizona under his watch, 2,500 of which are in clean energy. One investment project includes a $118 million grant for the Gila River Indian Community to reclaim a water pipeline and crop irrigation project, which will conserve 200,000 acre-feet of water.
This swing state that Biden won by just .2 points in 2020 has received $10.5 billion from the federal government for clean energy, clean buildings, clean water, infrastructure, and other incentives. The investments also created 4,000 jobs in clean energy. The projects include solar power company Qcells’s $2.5 billion investment to expand its solar panel and manufacturing capacity — the largest investment in the industry in U.S. history.
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The Biden administration has invested $10.8 billion in public infrastructure and clean energy in the Great Lakes State, which includes $142.5 million allocated to replacing lead pipes and service lines. The matter gained national attention after Flint’s water source was revealed to be tainted. Private companies in Michigan have invested an additional $25 billion in clean energy and manufacturing, including $2 billion for clean power.
Trump won the Sunshine State with 51.2% of the vote, but Biden hopes to sway voters with a $16.7 billion investment in public infrastructure and clean energy and $9 billion from private investors. Biden said that under his administration, 1.2 million jobs were created in Florida, with 2,700 jobs in clean energy.