Pres. Biden Talks Renewables at DOE Site

It was almost déjà vu when Denver Local 68 journeyman wireman Julian Aguilar met President Biden at the National

Renewable Energy Laboratory on September 14 outside Denver.

“I know I just now met Joe Biden for the first time in my life, but I feel like he’s had my back for years,” said Aguilar, a

second-generation member of Local 68. “President Joe Biden is not just pro-union. He’s pro-people. He’s pro-America.”

Biden saluted IBEW electricians as “the best in the world,” as he thanked Aguilar and discussed the urgency of

renewable energy.

“Whether you’re an engineer at a lab bench, an IBEW worker working on a turbine, [whether] you work for a power

company or a small construction business, everyone has a role to play in building a clean energy future and a stronger

economy,” Biden said at the Department of Energy site where Local 68 members are at work on a solar installation

project. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis joined them.

Biden championed his bold, job-creating infrastructure plan, as Congress was continuing negotiations over it.

“The bill will put 800,000 people to work,” Biden said, “800,000, includingplumbers, pipefitters, electrical workers, steelworkers — modernizingroads, bridges, water systems, broadband systems.

“[It] contains the largest federal investment in power transmission in ourhistory, so that our grid is more reliable, and we can carry morerenewable energy [and] we can create good union jobs building that newgrid.”

In attendance at the DOE site were dignitaries, energy executives and IBEW members.

“Being here at NREL shows the future of our industry, renewable andsustainable energy,” Aguilar said in his introduction: