President Biden will be in Somerset this week visiting Brayton Point. Here's why.

SOMERSET — President Joe Biden will visit the former Brayton Point power plant in Somerset on Wednesday, according to the office of Rep. Jake Auchincloss and town officials.

The State House News Service reported that the president will be at Brayton Point to "deliver remarks on tackling the climate crisis and seizing the opportunity of a clean energy future to create jobs and lower costs for families."

The Associated Press reports that the president will stop short of issuing an emergency declaration that would unlock federal resources to deal with the issue, according to a person familiar with the president's plans.

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Biden has been under pressure to issue an emergency declaration after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., pulled out of negotiations over climate legislation. Biden has been trying to signal to Democratic voters that he’s aggressively tackling global warming at a time when some of his supporters have despaired about the lack of progress.

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During his visit to Somerset, Biden could announce other steps on climate change but the White House has not released details. He has pledged to push forward on his own in the absence of congressional action.

The person familiar with Biden's intention to hold off on making an emergency declaration spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly. It was not clear whether an emergency declaration remained under consideration for later action.

Why Brayton Point?

The former power plant at Brayton Point closed in 2017 after more than five decades of operation. In its day, Brayton Point Power Station was the largest — and most-polluting — coal-fired electricity plant in New England.

The site of the old power plant is now set to be transformed into Massachusetts’ first offshore wind manufacturing facility, with plans for it to manufacture submarine power cables for several offshore wind projects.

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Mayflower Wind, one of the companies behind a nearby offshore wind project, said CEO Michael Brown will attend Wednesday's event with Biden.

"The Mayflower Wind SouthCoast project at Brayton Point is going to be instrumental in helping President Biden and the country meet their clean energy goals," Brown said in a statement. "Our delivery of clean offshore wind power to this former coal plant is the start of a revolution both locally and nationally to create thousands of new jobs, develop a whole new industry and create the radical change we need to meet our climate goals."

Kathy Souza, a former Somerset Selectmen and a leader of community group Save Our Bay Brayton Point, said she was glad to see Biden would be visiting the area.

“We’re extremely excited to have a sitting president visit Somerset,” she said.

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Still, she cautioned restraint for anyone seeing Brayton Point as a perfect example of the clean energy industry saving a community from more highly polluting industries. Only part of Brayton Point is so far slated to be used by the wind energy industry, she pointed out. Commercial Development, Inc. is still suing the town for permission to use the rest of the area as a port for materials and debris like oyster shells, raw materials to make concrete and fly ash, a powder produced by burning coal.

“They should not be stored near our neighborhoods,” she said. “We’re still very concerned.”

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In a press release Tuesday, acting Somerset Town Administrator Michael Gallagher advised residents to prepare for traffic delays.

"We're excited to welcome President Biden and his administration to the Town of Somerset tomorrow," Gallagher said in the release. "Residents should expect significant road closures, detours and traffic delays throughout the day."

~ With Associated Press and State House News reports

Audrey Cooney can be reached at acooney@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: President Joe Biden to visit Brayton Point in Massachusetts Wednesday