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Green factories are changing minds in more conservative US states


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At least $25.7 billion in new U.S. clean energy plants are on the way, thanks in part to generous subsidies in President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law. Most of these projects – and the jobs that come with them – are in traditionally conservative states.

In Dalton, Georgia, green energy was not a priority. Its Congressional Representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has said that “Earth is warming and carbon is really in our favor.”

But as I learned during my visit there last month, a new solar panel factory is changing the mind of this city of 34,000. Indeed, the presence of new jobs is turning solar energy into a tangible benefit to the community.

Analysts say there is a lesson here: New jobs at these green factories can act as a political game changer. “That could be a potential long-term strategy for Democrats: With domestic manufacturing capabilities located in traditional Republican districts, partisan divides could soften over renewable energy,” he said. create,” Timothy Fox, an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, told me.

Some Georgia Republicans also see the factories as politically beneficial. Governor Brian Kemp, in his successful re-election campaign, touted a spike in green jobs across Peach State. There’s a battery factory so huge that it stretches for half a mile along a highway northeast of Atlanta—and many more under construction. For example, Hyundai Motor Co. just started building a $5.5 billion electric vehicle factory near Savannah.

This phenomenon is not limited to Georgia. Republicans in historically conservative states in the South and Midwest have been against clean energy movement is currently competing for these factories. Some are offering property tax relief, clearance and other infrastructure improvement. (This also helps when some states have the right to work, which makes it harder for workers to unite.)

While some Republicans in Washington have long supported wind energy, the party’s grasp of clean energy is still limited. Not a single Republican member of Congress supported the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $374 billion in climate-related spending, including perks for clean-tech factories in the country. And Herschel Walker, Georgia’s Republican candidate for the Senate in December’s second-round election against Raphael Warnock, the incumbent Democrat, opposed the legislation.

It is unclear from my visit to Georgia whether the emerging openness to clean technology will be a key factor in the Senate race. But this is clearly demonstrated in Dalton: While local homeowners are less likely to install solar panels on their roofs than residents in Los Angeles, where I live, solar Heaven is becoming ingrained in the community.

Dalton, a city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, calls itself the “carpet capital of the world”. But it has long lacked job diversification, leaving it vulnerable to the ups and downs of the housing market.

It finally got there with solar power. Dalton is currently home to the largest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere. And manufacturer Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, is currently preparing a second plant nearby.

For Biden, the hope is that the IRA and two other infrastructure-related laws he has helped form the basis for an industrial policy that can revitalize cities across the country while combating climate change. climate change. Other than potential reforms to project licensing, this will accelerate progress power line required for wind transmission and Solar for cities, it is unlikely that the next Congress will adapt to clean energy as the session ends in a few weeks.

As I have seen in Georgia, some local economy have benefited from the energy transition—even if some of their elected representatives are not in favor of clean technology. For more information, please see my in-depth research on how new solar, battery, and electric vehicle plants are reforming clean energy politics.

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quote: Mind-changing green factories in more conservative US states (2022, 30 November) retrieved November 30, 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022-11 -green-factories-minds-states.html

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