President Joe Biden is due to visit Colorado's third congressional district, represented in the House by Republican Lauren Boebert, on Wednesday, where he plans to argue that "Bidenomics is mobilizing investments in clean energy manufacturing," according to a White House press release.
He will speak at CS Wind in Pueblo, which claims to be the largest wind tower manufacturing facility in the world and is currently undergoing a major expansion.
In November 2022, Boebert only narrowly secured reelection in what had been a reliably Republican district, defeating Democratic challenger Adam Frisch by just 546 votes.
Frisch is running again in 2024 and raised substantially more funds than Boebert in the second quarter of 2023, with the incumbent also facing a primary challenge from fellow GOP figure Jeff Hurd.
Boebert issued an apology in September after she and a male partner were asked to leave a performance of the musical Beetlejuice for repeatedly vaping and taking photographs, with surveillance footage later released showing the couple groping each other in the packed theater.
Announcing the visit in a press release, the White House said: "On Wednesday, November 29th, the president will travel to Pueblo, Colorado. The president will visit CS Wind—the largest wind tower manufacturer in the world—where he will deliver remarks on how Bidenomics is mobilizing investments in clean energy manufacturing and creating good-paying jobs in communities across the country, including in Colorado's third congressional district.
"The president will highlight how self-described MAGA Republicans like Rep. Lauren Boebert are threatening those investments, jobs, and opportunities."
Speaking to Newsweek, Boebert commented: "Families in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District are being crushed by so-called 'Bidenomics.' On his watch, credit card debt, inflation, groceries, and gas prices have all reached record highs. These high prices are squeezing working class Coloradans and rural America.
"Rather than cutting wasteful federal spending and unleashing American energy production, Joe Biden continues to pander to radical extremists, lock up more land, and spend his time focused on campaign stunts and vacations rather than doing the job he was elected to do.
"Instead of touting the poorly named Inflation Reduction Act that mandated Green New Deal policies that cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, Joe Biden should work with me to get my Pueblo Jobs Act signed into law that will create 1,000 new jobs in Pueblo and help revitalize Southern Colorado's economy."
Biden had been due to visit CS Wind in October, with the White House claiming the company was "creating hundreds of jobs as a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act," but the trip was postponed.
The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law by Biden in August 2022, who has since described it as "one of the biggest drivers of jobs and economic growth that this country has ever seen."
It included $300 billion in funding for energy and climate infrastructure designed to create jobs and reduce unemployment, set aside $64 billion to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies through 2025 and established a 15 percent minimum tax rate for large corporations.
Speaking in August 2023, on the act's 1-year anniversary, Biden claimed it had created 170,000 new clean energy jobs across the United States.
Earlier this year CW Wind began expanding its wind turbine tower manufacturing facility in Pueblo with the project set to complete in 2028 with an additional 850 jobs created.
Speaking to local newspaper The Pueblo Chieftain, James Won, the head of the American division of CS Wind, claimed the expansion was a direct response to the Inflation Reduction Act.
He said the act would facilitate tax breaks of up to 40 percent on turbine towers for its customers, significantly increasing demand.
Boebert has been a fierce critic of the Inflation Reduction Act and in October introduced her own legislation, the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act, to the House, aimed at boosting U.S. oil and gas production.
The GOP congresswoman said: "The American people have had enough of Joe Biden's relentless attack on American energy production. Gas prices continue to soar, and inflation is undermining our way of life."
"The United States is a leader in producing high-quality oil and gas globally, and it's time we utilize our natural resources to lower gas prices." Even if it passes the House, the legislation would almost certainly be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Update 11/29/23, 2:15 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from Rep. Lauren Boebert.
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
