Joe Biden: No More Coal Plants, We Need a ‘System to Transmit Coal and Wind Across the Country’

Former Vice President and presumptive 2020 Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday that as president he would move away from domestic fossil fuel production and then went on to call for a nationwide system to distribute coal.

“I would gradually move out of the position of relying on oil and gas, excuse me, on coal,” Biden said. “No one is going to build another coal fired plant. Period. No matter what the law is.”

When host Joe Kernen asked Biden how he would preserve the high-paying jobs in the oil and gas industry, Biden did not directly answer the question. He said:

We should become the net exporter of the new technology by investing the $40 billion in — the $400 billion I’m proposing in research and development for new ways to absorb carbon. New ways, you know, [to] make sure that we have a system nationwide that can transmit coal and wind across the country.

But we’re not investing in those things Joe. We’re not investing in any of it. They all create jobs.

And by the way, they don’t wind does not cause cancer. Windmills.

In fact, the Trump administration’s Department of Interior just approved the largest solar project in U.S. history, Newsweek reported:

A large solar energy project in Nevada that is expected to generate enough electricity to power 260,000 homes has been green-lit by the federal government.

Upon its completion, around 2022, the Gemini Solar Project could be the eighth-biggest solar facility in the world. It has been described by officials from the Department of the Interior as being the “largest solar project in United States history.” The agency said the project will annually offset greenhouse emissions of about 83,000 cars, which is equivalent to roughly 384,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

A Gemini Solar Project record of decision—signed by the interior secretary David Bernhardt—approved Solar Partners XI, LLC to construct a facility about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

“Despite the challenges of the coronavirus, we’re pleased to see that Nevada will soon be home to one of the biggest solar projects in the world,” Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement.

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