Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) gave kudos to the Biden administration over efforts to invest in the domestic clean energy industry, adding that it’s critical for the country to have a focus on diversity in the growing workforce.
“When you’re looking at energy and the future, if you’re interested in everybody’s livelihood, then you’ve got to start looking at ways for you to create pathways in the clean energy field in order to bring people in who are not ordinarily there,” the Democratic leader said.
Clyburn made the comments at The Hill’s “All In: Building a Diverse, Equitable & Inclusive Energy Workforce” event in late November, moderated by The Hill’s Cheyanne Daniels and sponsored by Southern Company.
“The Biden-Harris administration is doing a great job,” he added. “We just invested $7 billion, that administration, in [historically Black colleges and universities].”
Education is the key to encouraging diversity in the workforce, he argued. Citing the experiences of his parents — who struggled to gain an education in segregated South Carolina — Clyburn applauded Biden administration efforts to encourage attendance at community and technical colleges.
“I think that the government has a big job in trying to, first of all, destigmatize education, and demonstrate that education is much more much broader than a four-year liberal arts education,” he added.
Shouting out his alma mater, South Carolina State, he pointed out that many students of color want to pursue the green energy field through historically Black colleges and universities. South Carolina State is the only historically Black college or university with a nuclear engineering program, he noted, adding that nuclear energy will be a critical part of green energy goals.
“We are going to have to get serious about an ‘all of the above’ approach to energy,” Clyburn said. “It’s going to be renewables. But quite frankly, and some of my friends get nervous when I say it, but nuclear has got to be in the mix.”
The Biden administration has come under criticism from the left for approving controversial drilling projects on public lands but has also focused on renewable energy investments.
In November, the administration announced 15 new renewable energy projects on public lands, headlined by a massive California solar facility.