J.D. Vance's pledge to kill landmark Biden policy would 'devastate his hometown': analyses

Matthew Chapman
October 1, 2024 

Sen. J.. Vance of Ohio in Detroit on June 16, 2024 (Gage Skidmore

A key campaign pledge from Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) would have disastrous consequences on the southwest Ohio community where Vance grew up and the state he represents, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Vance and former President Donald Trump have repeatedly set their sights on repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of legislation signed by President Joe Biden that reforms energy production and fixes some holes in health care coverage, investing in climate response while simultaneously bringing down the federal deficit.

But Ohio gets a lot of benefits out of that law, reported Madeleine Ngo and Alan Rappeport.

Since the IRA was signed into law, "companies have announced more than $7 billion in clean energy investments in Ohio, according to an analysis from E2, an environmental nonprofit organization" — a greater investment than all but six other states.

"Among the companies benefiting is the steel manufacturer Cleveland-Cliffs, whose facility in Middletown was awarded a grant of up to $500 million from the Energy Department," the report stated.

This project, intended to upgrade the plant to use cleaner fuels, "is expected to create about 170 permanent jobs and up to 1,200 temporary union construction jobs" — directly in the town Vance spent his childhood

The town was also the focus of his famous memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy."

Middletown's acting city manager has lauded the investments as "outstanding," and said it would also free up resources for the local government to improve roads and water infrastructure, according to the report.

In other words, concluded Democratic strategist Jesse Lee in a post on X, "Vance wants to devastate his hometown."

Trump and Vance's vows to roll back the IRA have faced other political challenges as well — chiefly the fact that their plan would mean repealing a wildly popular program that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, saving money for both elderly beneficiaries and the government as a whole.