When one considers how frequently President Joe Biden’s statements have had to be retracted, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and her predecessor Jen Psaki must have put dozens of pairs of shoes on their expense accounts. After “clarifications” on a comment made by the president in November 2022 that was interpreted by many as a pledge to shut them all down, critics are now charging that the government is initiating an attack against coal-fired energy facilities.
According to a press release issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 8, “the Biden-Harris Administration announced it is proposing to strengthen wastewater discharge standards that apply to coal-fired power plants.” They argue that the Clean Water Act gives them the authority to implement policies to reduce the pollution levels, along with a few toxic metals, that are released into drinking water as a byproduct of generating electricity. The fines linked to this law, say, critics, might force some businesses into bankruptcy and force them to close.
They were able to address two of the key Liberal talking points in favor of the plan between the EPA’s press statement on the subject and comments in the Left-leaning mainstream media. They claim that it will benefit “communities of color,” who are more likely to be affected by pollution, and that it undoes some of the initiatives that the dreaded former President Donald Trump had implemented.
When Biden said in a speech on November 4 that “we’re going to be shutting [coal-fired] plants down all across America and having wind and solar.” There was an immediate backlash, including from Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Jean-Pierre was ordered to put a little more wear and tear on her shoe leather.
However, Biden has attacked the coal sector before, flip-flopping between the two positions. Fox News personality Liz Peek criticized him for conveying conflicting information about gas and oil drilling, the nation’s escalating inflation, and his proposal to revoke the Title 42 health emergency that Trump had imposed to impede immigration in a post published on April 19, 2022. His hesitation on a bill that the Washington, DC, city council allegedly enacted that was light on crime has come under scrutiny more lately.
