Rep. Van Orden (WI-03) voted for the GOP budget bill that put $2.35 billion in investment and 1,250 good-paying clean energy jobs at risk in his own congressional district
Washington, DC – Just days after Donald Trump rambled through a record-long State of the Union address in which he gaslighted the country about creating record job growth, JD Vance is joining Representative Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) in Wisconsin to do damage control for Republicans. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to bring back American manufacturing, but instead, his war on clean energy is decimating modern manufacturing and sending jobs overseas.
Representative Van Orden, who pathetically tried and failed to get even a fleeting moment of attention from Trump after the State of the Union, rubberstamped Trump’s disastrous agenda, despite the fact that it takes a sledgehammer to clean energy projects in his own district that would have created good-paying jobs and lowered utility bills.
Climate Power Senior Advisor Jesse Lee issued the following statement: “JD Vance is heading to the Badger State to do Donald Trump’s bidding and lie to Wisconsinites, so here’s the truth: Trump and Vance have canceled thousands of jobs and handed the future of modern manufacturing to China on a platter, sending utility bills skyrocketing. Meanwhile, Representative Van Orden has been acting like an obsessed fan who is desperate for praise after he voted to cancel thousands of jobs for his own constituents. This November, we are going to make sure that he pays the price at the ballot box for selling out Wisconsinites in a pathetic bid for attention from Trump.”
JD Vance and Republicans have left Wisconsinites with skyrocketing energy costs and canceled jobs:
- Trump’s OBBBA repealed clean energy tax credits and key pollution regulations. These repeals were expected to increase Wisconsinites’ annual total energy bills by $95 by 2030 and $300 by 2035.
- Trump’s repeals of clean energy tax credits and key pollution protections were expected to increase Wisconsin’s wholesale electricity prices by 14% by 2030 and 180% by 2035, from $1.6 billion in 2035 under previous policies to $4.4 billion under Trump’s OBBBA.
- Utility costs are on the rise in red and blue states across the country as Donald Trump and Republicans squeeze supply by taking clean energy options off the grid. In Wisconsin in 2025, at least 6 utilities enacted or proposed rate hikes totaling over $2.7 billion, affecting over 2.5 million electric customers and at least 1.8 million gas customers. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia saw rate hikes as high as $48.54 per month announced in 2025.
- Trump’s OBBBA was projected to increase annual gasoline bills in Wisconsin by $86 by 2030 and $111 by 2035.
- Energy Innovation found that Trump’s OBBBA would lead to Wisconsin losing 8,200 jobs in 2030 and 30,000 jobs in 2035.
- The same study found that Trump’s OBBBA would reduce Wisconsin’s GDP by $1.1 billion annually by 2030, and $4.7 billion by 2035.
- Trump’s Department of Energy canceled nine clean energy grants in Wisconsin, totaling over $140 million, that were projected to create 1,000 jobs.