CHAPEL HILL, NC – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday of economic disaster if climate change is not addressed with immediate government intervention.
Joined by local business owners and prominent North Carolina Democrats, Yellen said the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters could create devastating short-term reductions in solar supply. -day items that may cause prices to rise.
Supply chain disruptions like those experienced on a global scale during the COVID-19 pandemic may become commonplace, he said during a visit to Cypress Creek Renewables’ solar farm in Chapel Hill.
“Here in North Carolina, you remember very well the severe damage of Hurricane Florence. That disaster killed 22 Americans. It led to $24 billion in damages and left one million North Carolinians without power,” Yellen said.
As North Carolina prepares for several tight races in November, Yellen touted the benefits of the Democrats’ new climate, health and tax law, the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which will spend $375 billion next year. decade of climate-related investments. .
Combined with last year’s bipartisan infrastructure legislation, investments totaled more than $430 billion. The money will be spent on everything from giving tax credits to buyers of qualified electric vehicles to building clean manufacturing facilities.
Yellen said the spending would particularly affect “non-coastal communities that have suffered from disinvestment.”
Some North Carolinians who lost their homes in Florence in 2018 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 are still waiting for repairs or permanent housing, largely due to supply and job shortages. of the pandemic, according to the state disaster recovery agency.
Other policies initiated by President Joe Biden – including the CHIPS Act, which invests $ 52 billion in the domestic semiconductor industry – focus on raising significant resources to reduce dependence on global manufacturers.
Yellen is the third Cabinet member to visit North Carolina in September alone, following visits by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan to Warrenton last weekend and Vice President Kamala Harris to Durham on Sept.
Yellen’s visit is part of a month-long national tour promoting the new law.
The Republican National Committee called Yellen’s trip to North Carolina “ironic,” accusing her of touting so-called solutions to economic problems created by her and the Biden administration, said spokeswoman Taylor Mazock.
Yellen, for her part, said the “persistent, persistent shocks” caused by climate change will put a greater strain on the national budget if left unaddressed. “State and local governments may be increasingly forced to devote scarce resources to disaster mitigation, which may cost investments in areas such as education and workforce training,” he said.
Six weeks from the midterm elections, Biden is focusing on the Southern swing state, where a tight race in the US Senate could shift the balance of power in the narrowly divided chamber.
The White House hosted more than 50 North Carolina leaders for a forum last week on how Biden’s policies could benefit working-class communities in the Tar Heel state.
And with abortion access in the spotlight, Democrats are funneling resources into North Carolina’s state legislative campaigns to prevent Republicans from gaining some of the seats they need to override a Democratic veto. governor of stricter restrictions.
Criticized by Republican US Sen. Thom Tillis blasted the Biden administration on Tuesday for “relentless” spending policies that he said are “a disaster for North Carolina families” and the economy.
“President Biden’s answer to all of our problems is to spend more money that we don’t have on far-left priorities like green energy benefits, which will only make inflation worse for North Carolinians,” Tillis said.
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Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed from Washington.
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Hannah Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on classified issues. Follow him on Twitter @H_Schoenbaum.
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