Manchin criticises Biden over comments on closing coal plants

West Virginia Democrat calls president’s statement regarding shutdowns ‘outrageous and divorced from reality’.

Joe Manchin, who represents a coal-producing state, called on the president to apologise to coal workers. Picture: AFP

Centrist Democrat senator Joe Manchin has criticised Joe Biden over comments the president made the previous day about moving away from coal plants in favour of wind and solar energy.

“President Biden’s comments are not only outrageous and divorced from reality, they ignore the severe economic pain the American people are feeling because of rising energy costs,” the West Virginia Democrat said in a statement.

Senator Manchin, who represents a coal-producing state, called on the president to apologise to coal workers after Mr Biden said in a speech in California on Friday that it was cheaper to generate electricity from wind and solar than from coal and oil and said, “We’re going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar”.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Saturday, “The president’s remarks yesterday have been twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended; he regrets it if anyone hearing these remarks took offence.”

In his statement on Saturday, Mr Manchin accused the president of being cavalier about the loss of coal jobs in West Virginia. His anger came in the final days of the midterm campaign, as Mr Biden is campaigning for Democratic candidates.

A moderate Democrat, Mr Manchin has been a crucial vote for Democrats in the 50-50 Senate. He helped torpedo the president’s Build Back Better bill last year and negotiated the compromise climate, healthcare, tax bill that passed this past summer.

Ms Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden was commenting on America’s energy transition and said the administration’s goal is to combat climate change and increase energy security by producing clean and efficient American energy.

The Wall Street Journal