Biden Visits Ohio to Tout Infrastructure Investments, Court Voters

Lorain, Ohio — 

President Joe Biden on Thursday visited a small, deindustrialized Ohio steel town to tout his ambitious multi-trillion-dollar proposed spending plan, to announce a $1 billion initiative for environmental cleanup and restoration, and to court voters in a crucial state ahead of this year’s tightly contested midterm elections.

“Today, we’re announcing an investment of $1 billion — $1 billion — from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,” he said, speaking to about 60 invited guests, including members of Congress, local elected officials and labor leaders at a shipyard in the lakeside town of Lorain, Ohio.

“It’s going to allow the most significant restoration of the Great Lakes in the history of the Great Lakes. We’re going to accelerate cleanup of sites across six states in the Great Lakes Basin — from Duluth, Minnesota, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Gary, Indiana, to Buffalo, New York, and everywhere in between,” Biden said.

Lorain is a town of about 65,000 people whose moribund main street runs straight into Lake Erie. The town was hit hard by the decline of American manufacturing. Yet both of Biden’s predecessors have made a point of visiting the once-bustling steel town to tout their accomplishments and to court voters. This corner of America is especially important this year, as swing-state Ohio will see the retirement of Republican Senator Rob Portman.

Or, as former President Donald Trump put it when he visited a nearby town in June for his first post-presidential rally: “Next year, the Republican red wave is going to begin right here,” Trump told the crowd at the Lorain County Fairgrounds, which is in the nearby town of Wellington. “We will fight for more jobs for Ohio families, fair trade for Ohio workers, and more Ohio factories forging more products stamped with that beautiful, beautiful phrase, ‘Made in the U.S.A.'”

FILE – Rep Jim Jordan, D-Ohio, speaks on Capitol Hill, July 29, 2020.

And a small corner of southern Lorain is represented by one of Biden’s harshest critics, Republican U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, who voted against Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill. His opposition to the bill echoes that of many in his party.

“Democrats’ economic plan is basically the dumbest plan in history because it is ‘lock down the economy, spend like crazy, pay people not to work, and oh, for everyone who has been working, we’re now going to raise your taxes,'” he said shortly after the bill passed late last year.

Environmental advocates praised the expenditure — and Biden’s choice to visit the area to talk about it.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is clear that these are the types of environmental remediation projects that the $1.2 trillion should be used for,” said Steve Cochran, associate vice president of state affairs for the Environmental Defense Fund. “The President is making it a priority, which shows that the solutions are not only important but have broad support in the region and for these constituencies. Given the problems in the Great Lakes, and how much the communities depend on them, this is an excellent use of resources.”

Bipartisan observers agree.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was a significant achievement. It makes political sense to barnstorm the country touting it,” said Andy Winkler, director of the Bipartisan Policy Center. “But there’s also real value in these visits. The U.S. needs to make transformational investments in infrastructure to address climate change and stay economically competitive. To the extent the administration can, it must encourage state and local officials to take advantage of every resource the law offers and invest wisely.”

But, Winkler added: “President Biden should visit red states and blue states alike, in places he won and places he didn’t, to meet with Republicans and Democrats and explain why the bill was a significant bipartisan achievement and a win for the country.”

President Joe Biden speaks with the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Feb. 17, 2022, in Washington.

Biden, who said his priority taking office was to bring unity to this divided nation, evoked that in Lorain by mentioning the town’s most famous daughter, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. In her seminal novel, “Beloved,” she wrote: “Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.”

“Places like Lorain have a lot of proud yesterdays,” Biden said. “Now you’re going to have some brighter tomorrows — and because of all of you.”

Erdogan Visits UAE in Bid to Repair Ties with Arab World

Istanbul — 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting the United Arab Emirates, hoping to repair strained ties. Analysts say shared concerns over Iran could provide common ground.

Erdogan said that his two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, which began Monday, aims to ease years of tension and rivalry with the Persian Gulf state.

He said that with the visit, Turkey aims to develop the momentum it has achieved and to take the necessary steps to bring relations back to the level, he said, they deserve.

Turkey has found itself increasingly isolated across the Middle East, due largely to Ankara’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist group, something that has caused unease among many Middle Eastern leaders.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, second right, arrive at Qasr Al-Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 14, 2022.

Teacher of international relations Soli Ozel at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University says Erdogan’s UAE visit is part of a wider regional reset, with Iran providing crucial common ground.

“Turkey’s charm offensive has targeted several countries, with one of them the United Arab Emirates. Both countries have an interest, along with all the western countries, for Iran not to be so influential as it is today,” he said.

Turkey is increasingly in competition with Iran, from the Caucasus to Syria.

Last week Turkish pro-government media reported several alleged Iranian agents were arrested in Turkey in a joint Turkish-Israeli intelligence service operation to thwart the assassination of a Turkish-Israeli businessman.

The arrests came after Iran recently cut off natural gas supplies to Turkey for more than a week, causing much of the country’s manufacturing sector to shut down for several days.

Asli Aydintasbas, a senior fellow at the European Council, says there are suspicions the gas shut-off may have been politically motivated.

“We’ve seen Iran cut off the natural gas for Turkey ostensibly because [it] had something breaking down or it [Iran] needed it for its internal market. But it’s no coincidence that this happened after a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Iran leader [Ebrahim] Raisi. This was clearly a message to Turkey,” she said.

Iran and Russia are working closely together in Syria in backing the Damascus regime, while Turkey backs Syrian rebels. Moscow has also voiced its anger over Ankara selling armed drones to Ukraine.

Analyst Ozel warns that the Turkish-Iranian rivalry is likely to escalate, with Ankara sharing Western and Middle Eastern countries’ fears over Iran’s nuclear energy program.

“If Turkey wants to jump on board in that struggle, then yes, we can expect Turkish-Iranian relations to be a bit testy. On the other hand, Turkey and Iran manage to have competitive and cooperative relations for centuries, so they are pretty well versed on how to do that,” he said.

If there’s a breakdown in talks between Iran and the international community to resolve concerns over Iran’s nuclear energy program, analysts warn that Turkey’s effort to balance competition and rivalry with its Iranian neighbor could face a greater test.

Macron Visits Kyiv, Says Putin Talks Prevented Escalation of Crisis

Washington — 

Fresh off a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Kyiv for talks Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as leaders and diplomats work to deescalate tensions along the Ukraine-Russia border.

Macron told reporters Tuesday that in his discussion with Putin, he met his objective of preventing escalation of the crisis.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Monday that his country seeks “diplomatic solutions, but won’t cross Ukraine’s red lines.”

He said Ukraine will not make any concessions on its sovereignty or territorial integrity, will not hold direct negotiations with “Russian occupation administrations” in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and that only the people of Ukraine have the right to choose the country’s foreign policy course.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) in Moscow on Feb. 7, 2022, for talks in an effort to find common ground on Ukraine and NATO.

After the Monday meeting with Macron, Putin said Russia would do its best “to find compromises” in the crisis with the West over Ukraine and said, “As far as we are concerned, we will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone.”

He said there would be “no winners” if war broke out on the European continent.

Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia and in its ally, Belarus, with the West fearing that Putin could at any time order an invasion.

France, the United States and their NATO allies have rejected Moscow’s demand that they rule out possible Ukraine membership in the Western military alliance formed after World War II.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday a crucial European gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, will not go forward if Russia invades Ukraine, as he hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House.

Biden told reporters “the notion that Nord Stream 2 would go forward” in the event of an invasion by Russian tanks or troops is “just not going to happen.”

Scholz did not directly say whether Germany would cancel the pipeline project but said, “We will take all the necessary steps, and all will be done together” with the United States and other allies.

He said, “We have prepared a reaction that will help us to react swiftly if needed” in the event of a Russian invasion. He said Germany would not “spell out everything in public.”

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, running under the Baltic Sea, is designed to bring Russian natural gas to Germany. The pipeline was recently completed but is not yet operational.

The United States, among others, has viewed putting the brakes on the pipeline as part of the deterrence of a Russian attack on Ukraine, eliminating potential Russian revenue from the pipeline.

Addressing reporters Monday, Biden also urged Americans in Ukraine to leave the country, saying, “It would be wise” for them to do so.

The U.S. State Department has already said nonessential employees in Ukraine could leave the country along with family members.

At the outset of their discussions, Scholz and Biden emphasized the close relationship between their two countries. But they have taken different approaches in assisting Ukraine, with the United States sending weapons to the Kyiv government, and Germany sending 5,000 military helmets Ukraine requested, while adhering to its long-held position of not shipping arms into a conflict zone.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday Putin continued to add to his troop numbers along the borders with Ukraine over the weekend.

“Sizable forces continue to be added to the forces Mr. Putin has arrayed,” Kirby told reporters. “With each passing day, he gives himself a lot more options from a military perspective.”

Carla Babb contributed to this report. Some information also came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.

Yellowstone Park Visits Hit Record in 2021, Straining Staff

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WYOMING — 

A record number of visitors flocked to Yellowstone National Park last year despite fewer hotel rooms and campsites being available because of the coronavirus pandemic and construction projects.

About 4.86 million visits were tallied in 2021, breaking the prior record set in 2016. It’s a million more people than visited in 2020.

Known worldwide for its wolves, bears and other wildlife and thermal features such as the Old Faithful geyser, Yellowstone will mark its 150th anniversary in 2022. It straddles the borders of northwestern Wyoming, southern Montana and eastern Idaho.

Visits to national parks across the U.S. have been trending up in recent years. Others such as Utah’s Zion National Park also set new visitor records in 2021 as tourism bounced back from the shutdowns imposed during the early days of the pandemic.

At Yellowstone, a rush of people from May through September last year strained employees and park services. It came as the park was understaffed through the summer because of worker housing caps and difficulty recruiting new employees, park officials have said.

There were also 20% fewer campsites and hotel rooms in 2021 compared to previous years. That meant hundreds of thousands of visitors left the park at night and would re-enter after staying elsewhere. Each time they entered the park counted as a separate visit.

Park officials said they are trying to find a way to differentiate between new visits and people who enter the park multiple times on the same trip.

Yellowstone’s road corridors and parking lots can get crowded, but they make up less than one-tenth of 1% of its 8,903 square kilometers (3,400 square miles) — an area about 150 times the size of New York’s Manhattan Island.

Most visitors stay within a half-mile of those roads, according to park officials. Park crowds drop sharply during winter when much of it is inaccessible except by snowmobile or skiing.