U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

The White House @WhiteHouse

Today, two more companies announced big manufacturing investments thanks to @POTUS' legislation:

✅First Solar will build a solar panel factory in the Southeast
✅Corning will build a fiber-optic cable factory in Arizona

Good-paying jobs that don't require college degrees.

Corning says it will build a new manufacturing facility outside Phoenix in response to a spike in demand for fiber-optic cable as the U.S. government ramps up a $42.5 billion internet funding program.
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/fiber-optic-cable-corning-factory-broadband-att

https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1564683976547221506

[Rick Plant]

American manufacturing is roaring back:

-Corning: $42.5 billion on fiber optics
-LG/Honda: $4.4 billion on EV batteries
-Micron: $40 billion on chips
-Qualcomm: $4.2 billion on chips
-Intel: $100 billion on chips

Republicans use jobs as a talking point. Democrats create them.

Sources:

Corning: https://axios.com/2022/08/30/fiber-optic-cable-corning-factory-broadband-att
LG/Honda: https://cnn.com/2022/08/29/business/honda-lg-electric-vehicles/index.html
Micron: https://cnbc.com/2022/08/09/micron-to-invest-40-billion-in-us-chip-manufacturing.html
Qualcomm: https://reuters.com/technology/qualcomm-globalfoundries-sign-pact-double-chip-manufacturing-2022-08-08/
Intel: https://cnbc.com/2022/01/21/intel-plans-20-billion-chip-manufacturing-site-in-ohio.html


Biden and Democrats deliver.

Reminder: not a single Republican voted for this bill.

“The company pivoted after President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law earlier this month…”


First Solar to Invest $1.2 Billion in U.S. Plants, Spurred by Climate Law

The biggest U.S. solar-panel maker said it plans to spend as much as $1.2 billion to boost domestic manufacturing capacity by around 75%.



The biggest U.S. solar-panel maker said it plans to spend as much as $1.2 billion to boost manufacturing capacity at home by around 75%—the latest in a surge of domestic clean-energy investments spurred by the recently passed climate and healthcare legislation.

On Tuesday, Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar Inc. FSLR 0.51%▲ said it would invest up to $1 billion in a new factory in the southeastern U.S. that will eventually be able to make 3.5 gigawatts of panels each year and $185 million in expansions the company now plans at factories in Ohio.

The new investment plans are a reversal for First Solar, the only major American-owned maker of solar panels. First Solar Chief Executive Mark Widmar had said until recently that although the company was eager to boost its manufacturing footprint, high costs and a lack of policy support meant it was considering adding capacity in Europe or India rather than at home.

With the new investments, First Solar now expects to have around 10.6 gigawatts of panel-making capacity in the U.S. by 2025—up from an expected 6 gigawatts next year—enough to power more than 1.8 million homes. It will have around 10 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity outside the U.S. next year, when its new India factory comes online.

The company pivoted after President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law earlier this month, Mr. Widmar said. The IRA contains hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for companies to manufacture clean-energy equipment such as solar panels and electric-vehicle batteries, as well as tax credits for companies that build green-power projects using American-made components.

Depending on how the IRA is interpreted, First Solar could be eligible for tax credits ranging from 4 cents to 18 cents per watt on its modules, according to a recent report by Philip Shen, managing partner at boutique investment bank Roth Capital Partners LLC. Based on the projected capacity of the new plant, that suggests between $140 million and $630 million in tax credits a year.

With the new law, “solar’s going to be investible again” in the U.S., Mr. Widmar said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. The company expects to choose the site for the new U.S. factory in the third quarter of this year.

First Solar’s announcement is part of a surge in expected investment in clean-energy technologies spurred by the law as well as ballooning demand for solar, wind and batteries to meet ambitious U.S. climate goals.

The U.S. government is also concerned about relying too heavily on China, which dominates manufacturing in solar and other clean-energy technologies, with whom relations have been increasingly strained.

Battery and car manufacturers have rushed to unveil multibillion-dollar deals for plants in the U.S. On Monday, Honda Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution Ltd. said they would spend $4.4 billion on a factory to make electric-vehicle batteries in the U.S. Tesla Inc. battery supplier Panasonic Holdings Corp. is considering a $4 billion EV battery factory in Oklahoma, the Journal previously reported, and it announced a similarly sized plant in Kansas in July.

In solar manufacturing, where China controls more than 80% of the global supply chain by some estimates, South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group member Hanwha Solutions said in March that it plans to pour billions of dollars into building an alternate supply chain in the U.S. As a first step, it is expanding the Georgia panel-making factory of its Qcells clean-energy unit, and it has invested more than $200 million in REC Silicon ASA, a maker of the high-purity silicon used as the fundamental ingredient in most panels. REC is restarting its factory in Moses Lake, Wash., in response.

Not including the latest First Solar announcement, module makers had already announced around 14 gigawatts of U.S. capacity additions around the time of the bill’s passage, said Andy Klump, chief executive of Clean Energy Associates, a consulting firm that helps renewable companies build, manage and track their supply chains. At least three big global manufacturers are now considering plants of five gigawatts or more, according to Mr. Klump.

A big challenge in building out a solar supply chain in the U.S. will be attracting manufacturing that doesn’t currently exist there, such as plants that shape silicon for solar panels into ingots and wafers, industry executives say.

First Solar uses a different panel technology that doesn’t depend on silicon and has a much shorter supply chain. The company has spent years cultivating supply partners and now sources more than 90% of the materials it uses in American factories from the U.S., Mr. Widmar said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-solar-to-invest-1-2-billion-in-u-s-plants-spurred-by-climate-law-11661852700

[Rick Plant]

The White House @WhiteHouse

Today, @POTUS visited Pennsylvania to highlight his Safer America Plan – which will:
- Fund the police and promote effective prosecution of crimes
- Invest in crime prevention and a fairer criminal justice system
- Take additional steps to keep guns out of the wrong hands

From the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to an Executive Order to improve police accountability, President Biden has taken action to make our communities safer.



https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1564750103813971973

[Rick Plant]

The White House @WhiteHouse

Every single Republican in Congress voted against funding for law enforcement in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.



https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1564757364766609408

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

There is no greater responsibility for government than to ensure the safety of its people.

My Safer America Plan is a crucial investment in that responsibility.



https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1564786528492167174

[Rick Plant]

Another victory for Democrats as Mary Peltola wins in Alaska!

[Rick Plant]

Democrat Mary Peltola tops Sarah Palin to win U.S. House special election in Alaska



Democrat Mary Peltola will represent Alaska's lone U.S. House seat, after winning a special election that was determined by a ranked-choice voting tabulation on Wednesday. She will become the the first Alaska Native in Congress.

In the final round of the count, Peltola, a former state lawmaker, edged Sarah Palin, a former Alaska governor and the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, by 3 percentage points, 51.5% to 48.5%.

Peltola's victory denies the controversial Palin, an ally of former President Donald Trump, an immediate return back onto the national political scene.

The special election in Alaska was held earlier this month but it took until Wednesday to tabulate all the mail-in votes and calculate the winner with the state's new ranked-choice voting system.

Republican Nick Begich III came in third in the election, so voters who had put him as their first choice (or who had written in another candidate) had their ballots reallocated to the candidate who was their second choice.

The special election was to replace Rep. Don Young, who died earlier this year at the age of 88. Peltola will complete the term and then she, Palin and Begich will face off again in November for the next two-year term.

Peltola and Palin served together as state legislators.

Though Palin had sharp words for her fellow Republican Begich, she refrained from attacking Peltola during the campaign, calling her a sweetheart. Peltola also did not badmouth Palin, telling NPR, "The region where I'm from, there is a big premium on being respectful, on not using inflammatory language or harsh tones."

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1120327126/palin-peltola-begich-alaska-special-house-election-results

[Rick Plant]

Biden outlines gun crime plan, denounces GOP over Jan. 6 in Pennsylvania speech



Washington — President Biden was in his element Tuesday just outside his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, greeting friendly faces and detailing his $37 billion plan aimed at addressing gun violence. He also took the opportunity to denounce Republicans who defend the Capitol rioters and disparage federal law enforcement, while praising Democrats running for office in Pennsylvania.

At an event in Wilkes-Barre that showcased several Democratic candidates, the president touted his "Safer America Plan," a proposal that would be funded through money included in his fiscal year 2023 budget request and requires congressional approval. Mr. Biden was born in Scranton and spent his early childhood there, and has often returned to make major speeches from the area. He was originally scheduled to deliver Tuesday's speech in July, but was forced to postpone the trip when he tested positive with COVID-19.

With just over two months until the midterm elections, Mr. Biden emphasized the need for more law enforcement officers, not fewer. The president said Americans "see hate and anger and violence just walking the streets of America."

"And they just want to feel safe again. They want to feel a sense of security. And that's what my crime plan is all about. You know, I call it the Safer America Plan," he added. "And both of your members of Congress voted for it. It's based on a simple notion — when it comes to public safety in this nation, the answer is not defund the police, it's fund the police."

The president's crime prevention proposal calls for $13 billion over the next five years for communities to hire and train 100,000 additional police officers, as well as nearly $3 billion to help clear court backlogs and solve murders, according to the White House.

Mr. Biden's plan would also establish a $15 billion grant program for cities and states to use over the next decade to promote approaches to prevent violent crime or identify non-violent situations that warrant a public health response, with the goal of alleviating the burden on law enforcement officers. Another $5 billion would be used for evidence-based community violence intervention programs. Trust between police and the public is vital, the president said.

"The communities, by the way, that want the police more than any other community are the tough, poor communities. Black, White, immigrants," Mr. Biden said. "They need the help. They want the help."

The president touted the passage and signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant update to gun control laws in nearly three decades. The law enhances background checks for gun buyers under 21, provides billions of dollars for mental health services and sets aside $750 million to incentivize states to create crisis-intervention programs. The measure also closes the so-called "boyfriend loophole" to ensure convicted domestic abusers can't purchase a firearm for five years.

"We beat the NRA," the president said Tuesday, referring to the National Rifle Association. "We took them on and we beat the NRA, straight up. You have no idea how intimidating they are to elected officials ... But guess what, we took on the NRA, and we're going to take them on again, and we won. We will win again."

The president reiterated his desire Congress to ban assault weapons, a nonstarter since he took office and a near impossibility without Democratic victories in November.

"We're not stopping here," the president said Tuesday. "I'm determined to ban assault weapons in this country. Determined." 

Pennsylvania is a key swing state, with control of the Senate in play in the midterm elections. Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is running against Republican Mehmet Oz for Pennsylvania's Senate seat.

"I tell you what, Fetterman's a hell of a guy, a powerful voice for working people," Mr. Biden said Tuesday. "And he's going to make a great United States senator."

In his speech railing against violent crime, the president turned to address the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, lambasting Republican members of Congress who defended the rioters.

"Police lost their lives as a result of that day," the president said. "Police lost their lives. One of the officers said it was worse than anything he had experienced in war in Iraq. So let me say this to my MAGA Republican friends in Congress — don't tell me you support law enforcement if you won't condemn what happened on the 6th. Don't tell me. Can't do it. For God's sake, whose side are you on?"

The president will return to Pennsylvania on Thursday, as well as next week, ramping up his appearances on behalf of Democrats in key competitive races.

AFP