President Biden speaks at the Tioga Marine Terminal in Port Richmond on Friday to announce funding for hydrogen energy projects.President Joe Biden visited Philadelphia on Friday to announce that the region will receive $750 million in federal funding toThe projects will generate hydrogen fuel, which Biden said will be transformational in creating union jobs, boosting U.S. energy security, and helping the nation meet its net-zero goals for greenhouse gas emissions.
The visit was the president’s eighth trip to Philadelphia this year. Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, is seen as a priority inIn the Philadelphia region, news of a federal investment in hydrogen energy for a Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, or MACH2, was met with excitement from Democratic politicians and labor leaders. Some environmental groups, meanwhile, expressed reservations.
“The word used was transformational,” Casey told The Inquirer following the president’s remarks. “That’s what this is gonna be for the future. It means that we can use the best workforce in the world, in Pennsylvania.” Biden also leaned heavily into the potential for hydrogen investments to create new middle-class and union jobs.
Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, said Friday that the Biden administration’s emphasis on hydrogen hubs is a “false solution” that will increase greenhouse gas emissions and pollution because hydrogen hubs use fracked fossil fuel gas to power them, perpetuating a need for more natural gas drilling.
“There’s been very little information, there’s been no public information or input,” Masur said. “It’s just not a very good way to show how we’re going to spend billions of taxpayer dollars that could have potential environmental impact.”“Pennsylvania is positioning itself as the leader of our country’s clean energy future and creating thousands of new, good-paying union jobs,” he said.