Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez boost Joe Biden's climate agenda on Earth Day

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden celebrated Earth Day on Monday by sharing the stage with three liberal lawmakers who praised his climate agenda as he tries to win over skeptical progressive voters heading into this fall’s election against Donald Trump.

Speaking at an event in Virginia, Biden announced that his administration is making $7 billion in grants available to help provide solar power to the homes of more than 900,000 low-income families. His was joined for the announcement by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The money for the solar panels will flow through Environmental Protection Agency's Solar for All grant competition, which was part of Biden's landmark climate change law dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act. The law is expected to create 200,000 jobs and save households in the program about $400 a year, the White House said.

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Sanders, who championed the Solar for All program, said the grants mean that families who in the past have not been able to take advantage of solar panels will now be able to do so.

Ocasio-Cortez also praised Biden for creating the American Climate Corps, a new program that will hire and train more than 20,000 young people to work fighting climate change. Biden announced that Americans can now apply for some 2,000 positions under the program.

Biden "is overseeing the single biggest federal investment in tackling the climate crisis in our nation's history," Ocasio-Cortez said.

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @mcollinsNEWS.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez boost Biden climate agenda on Earth Day