Biden Makes Pitch for New, Clean Energy Jobs at Minnesota Plant
Manufacturer Cummins commits to $1 billion investment
President Biden pledged to “leave no one behind” in the growth of the new, clean-energy economy during a visit to a Minnesota facility owned by a major energy and manufacturing company.
Meanwhile, that company — Cummins — plans to invest $1 billion across their U.S. engine manufacturing facilities in Indiana, North Carolina and New York.
Biden said that his administration is “providing incentives for companies like Cummins to manufacture clean energy technology right here in Minnesota.”
The company's manufacturing history runs back to World War II, and that half of all medium- and heavy-duty trucks on the road today have Cummins engines, Biden noted.
“But when Cummins first manufactured hydrogen electrolyzers, they had to make them overseas,” he said. “These are the machines that make clean hydrogen, a renewable energy used to power our economy, from clean cars to trucks to steel to cement manufacturing.
“But now, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act with the tax credits for renewable energy, Cummins is going to manufacture these electrolyzers here in America for the first time,” the president added, to applause.
Meanwhile, Cummins is transforming part of its factory in Fridley, Minn. — which he was visiting — into a new production line for clean energy technology, Biden noted.
“Here at this plant, 600 workers now making diesel engines will be re-trained, and an additional 100 jobs — so a total of 700 jobs — will be making clean energy technology,” he said. “You know, what we’re seeing is a boon for American innovation, American industry, and it’s good for the planet as well.
“Already, Cummins has signed contracts for producers and utilities in New York, Florida, and Washington State, and it’s just beginning. Just beginning,” the president added.
Since he took office, companies have announced more than $2 billion in major manufacturing investments in Minnesota alone, Biden said.
“And the point here is that it’s all made in America rather than overseas. It’s a gamechanger,” he said. “And, folks, where is it written that America can’t once again be the manufacturing capital of the world? Where is that written?”
Many of these new jobs don’t require a college degree, the president noted.
“You feel left out, left behind in an economy that’s rapidly changing. I get it. I get it,” Biden said. “But hear me well: We’re going to leave no one behind. We’re going to make sure all American workers, with college degrees or without college degrees, are prepared to compete with anyone in the world in the remainder of this century.”
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