Updated at 6:35 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023
Hours before his departure, President Joe Biden called off his trip to Rep. Lauren Boebert's district in Pueblo. Biden will instead hold a series of high-level meetings on Israel and the growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza.
"The President’s trip to Colorado is postponed and it will be rescheduled. The President will remain at the White House to participate in national security meetings," said a White House official early Monday morning.
Biden's trip was expected to spotlight clean energy investments made by his administration through the Inflation Reduction Act, his signature climate, tax and healthcare law. He was supposed to tour CS Wind in Pueblo, which is in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District and is the largest wind turbine tower manufacturing plant in the world.
“The President will highlight how Bidenomics and the Inflation Reduction Act are mobilizing companies to invest in clean energy industries and create good-paying jobs in places like CO-03, while extreme House Republicans try to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and deny their constituents the jobs and opportunities that the President’s agenda is creating,” said a White House official describing the purpose of the visit.
In Pueblo, CS Wind made a $250 million investment to expand its facility, spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act. The expansion is expected to add about 850 jobs in Pueblo.
CS Wind has hosted elected officials before, including Gov. Jared Polis and Sen. Michael Bennet.
While all of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, Boebert and Colorado’s other GOP congress members, Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, did not. Boebert has described the law as “a massive failure” on X, the site formerly known as Twitter
At a stop in New Mexico in August designed to highlight the law and other aspects of the administration's economic record, Biden foreshadowed his Colorado visit when he dinged Boebert for not supporting the legislation even as it benefitted her district.
“CS Wind is Congresswoman Lauren Boebert — you know, the very quiet Republican lady? — it’s in her district,” Biden said. “Who, along with every other Republican, voted against this bill. And it’s making all this possible. And she railed against its passage.”
Commenting about Biden’s visit on X, the right-wing Boebert asked if he’d address high prices, talk with oil and gas workers or families affected by fentanyl during his visit. “If he’s not here to address these serious issues, perhaps he should stick to what he does best — relaxing on the beach and doing nothing.”
At least one other project in the district is also benefiting from the Inflation Reduction Act. Primergy is building a 155 megawatt solar power and battery storage project in the southwest corner of the state outside Durango.
In total, companies have announced $5 billion in investments in Colorado, in industries ranging from clean energy to semiconductors and biomanufacturing, as a result of legislation passed during the Biden Administration.
