A hulking steel plant in Middletown, Ohio, is the city’s economic heartbeat as well as a keystone origin story of J.D. Vance, the hometown senator now running to be Donald Trump’s vice president.
Its future, however, may hinge upon $500 million in funding from landmark climate legislation that Vance has called a “scam” and is a Trump target for demolition.
In March, President Joe Biden’s administration announced the United States’ largest-ever grant to produce greener steel, enabling the Cleveland-Cliffs facility in Middletown to build one of the largest hydrogen fuel furnaces in the world, cutting emissions by a million tons a year by ditching the coal that accelerates the climate crisis and befouls the air for nearby locals.
In a blue-collar urban area north of Cincinnati that has long pinned its fortunes upon the vicissitudes of the U.S. steel industry, the investment’s promise of a revitalized plant with 170 new jobs and 1,200 temporary construction positions was met with jubilation among residents... Read more
