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President Joe Biden released details of the so-called American Jobs Plan, which among its stated goals aims to modernize infrastructure, revitalize manufacturing and create what it says will be “millions” of jobs.
The proposal will include an investment of approximately $2 trillion over the next 15 years, the White House said Wednesday.
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Aluminum in infrastructure
On the heels of the announcement, domestic metals associations weighed in on the Biden administration’s wide-ranging proposal.
The steel industry is hailing a long-discussed and long-awaited infrastructure plan that would pump $2 trillion into the nation s roads, bridges, railways and ports.
United Steelworkers International President Tom Conway said the plan â expected to drive up demand for steel â is ambitious and far-reaching.
âA large-scale investment is certainly long overdue, but more importantly President Biden has made it clear that he, like our union, takes an expansive view of infrastructure, Conway said. âThis is one that, in addition to repairing our crumbling roads, bridges, waterways and other transportation networks, also ensures that we have state-of-the-art schools, reliable communication systems, robust public health and much more.
Purdue University Northwest s Center for Visualization and Simulation recently secured a $7 million federal grant for research that could make blast furnaces up to 10% more energy efficient, lessening their carbon footprint.
The very future of the integrated steel mills along the lakeshore in Northwest Indiana may depend on such technological advancement.
For more than a century, coke â a purified form of coal â has been burned in blazing blast furnaces in the hulking steel mills in the Calumet Region to forge the iron that s turned into the steel that goes into cars, appliances, buildings and bridges. But fossil fuels have been falling out of favor and are facing increased regulation across the globe, as political leaders look to grapple with the threat of climate change.Â