President Biden faced corrections and a wave of criticism on the X platform (previously known as Twitter) after misstating a significant detail about his climate policy.
While promoting the Inflation Reduction Act – a principal economic and environmental legislation from the previous year – the official Biden account incorrectly mentioned the year by which the U.S. power grid would source 81% of its energy cleanly.
This oversight was highlighted by an X “Community Notes” feature, which sparked sharp reactions from those who took issue with the mistake, as well as others who are skeptical of the broader climate change initiatives.
The post showcased a photo of President Biden with what looked like U.S. energy workers and a caption that said, “The Inflation Reduction Act is set to triple wind power capacity and increase solar energy eight times. It’s anticipated that by 2023, the U.S. power grid will draw 81% of its energy from clean sources.”
According to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the current contribution of renewable energy to the U.S. power mix is around 20%. This means that for the President’s statement to be true, the U.S. would have to raise its clean energy consumption by 60% in just a few months.
However, the Community Notes clarified that the correct target year is 2030, not 2023. A reference was made to a previous post that stated, “Owing to our significant efforts in clean energy, we expect that by 2030, the U.S. power grid will be supplied with 81% clean energy, which will be transformative for our environment and air quality.”
Further, there was a link to a CNBC piece titled, “White House aiming for 80% clean U.S. electricity by 2030, insider reveals.”
Many of Biden’s detractors found humor in the mistake. For instance, conservative X user Rich Weinstein commented, “Did you realize it’s 2023 already?”
Daniel Turner, head of the group “Power The Future,” remarked, “Considering it’s already 2023 and we’re not close to 81%, did you perhaps tweet this yourself?”
Others took the opportunity to critique Biden’s broader environmental strategies. Yanky Pollak from Rebel News responded with a jest, “Looks like you owe me for gas.” Tim Young, a conservative writer, pointed out the ethical concerns around battery production, saying, “I bet the young workers mining for battery components are thankful.” Finally, Paul Szypula, a former GOP U.S. Senate candidate from New York, criticized Biden’s approach, stating, “While Biden takes choreographed photos, energy prices skyrocket. And labeling solar and wind as ‘clean’ is misleading – their production isn’t pollution-free and they’re not always dependable.”
