Yellen to visit North Carolina ahead of tight midterm races

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heads to the Durham, North Carolina, area next Tuesday as part of her ongoing tour to promote the Biden administration’s legislative agenda ahead of the midterm elections.

Visiting a state with several tight races in the offing, Yellen will focus on record climate investments of $375 billion over the next decade through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.

Yellen plans to tour a renewable energy facility, meet with local business leaders and elected officials, and give a speech about the potential economic crisis that could be caused by unmitigated climate change, the Treasury Department said.

Her agency has been tasked with implementing a new tax credit for U.S. buyers of qualifying electric vehicles made in North America through the Democrats’ latest law.

Yellen said at a conference hosted by The Atlantic magazine on Thursday that elected leaders need to ensure that “as we transition to clean energy, the communities that are dependent on fossil fuels aren’t left behind.”

“I really think that’s contributed to polarization in the country,” she said.

Yellen’s visit is part of a monthlong national tour she is making as well as a larger White House campaign to highlight new laws passed to boost the economy, spur computer chip manufacturing and revamp the country’s infrastructure.

North Carolina this year has tight races for the U.S. Senate, two state Supreme Court seats and a state legislative contest that will determine whether Republicans gain the seats they need to override the Democratic governor’s veto.

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Associated Press reporter Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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