WESTBY, Wis. – President Joe Biden unveiled a $7.3 billion program to reduce greenhouse gases and provide cleaner energy options for rural America. The announcement was at a solar farm outside Westby. “This is the most significant, transformative investment in electricity and electrification and clean energy for rural America since FDR’s New Deal nearly 90 years ago,” Biden said. The LaCrosse-based Dairyland Power Co-operative will be among 16 U.S. energy suppliers receiving the first round of funding. The $573 million Dairyland grant will go toward a $2.1 billion solar and wind project to generate 1,080 megawatts of energy. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who accompanied Biden to Westby, predicted that Dairyland’s electric rates will drop 42% over 10 years. The announcement was at an outdoor ceremony at a solar array in a field just outside of town. The Vernon Electric Co-op in Westby buys much of its energy from Dairyland. Biden said the new program overall will create 16,000 construction job nationwide and 4,500 permanent jobs. Biden spoke from a platform improvised for the. event. There was no canopy in the warm and humid afternoon sun. In folding metal chairs on the grass was an attentive audience of co-op officials and employees and invited guests who had ben screen days earlier by the presidential security team. Huge bullet-proof see-through panels fkanked the stage at both ends. The tight security reflected tighter precautions since the assassination attempt on ex-President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania n July. The Westby event came across as apolitical. Even so, the underlying theme was the Biden commitment to environmentally friendly energy policies. Trump, meanwhile, has pooh-poohed solar, wind and new-generation energy sources and favors traditional oil and coal despite their deleterious pollution.
In signature aviator sunglasses. Biden spoke to an attentive crowd from an improvised platform. The event was devoid of overt political messaging either from the stage or the crowd.