Biden to tap former Michigan Gov. Granholm to lead Energy Department
Source: Politico
By TYLER PAGER and ZACK COLMAN
12/15/2020 05:32 PM EST
Updated: 12/15/2020 05:40 PM EST
President-elect Joe Biden will pick former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run the Energy Department, the agency that would play a key role in helping develop the technologies needed fulfill his pledge to move the country off fossil fuels.
Granholm, who served two terms as Michigan's governor, is experienced in dealing with the auto industry — a potentially big advantage as the new president seeks to speed the rollout of electric vehicles and the network of charging stations needed to power them.
Granholm's ardent support of the auto industry may help Biden's team strengthen its appeal to blue-collar workers and the manufacturing sector as the incoming administration pitches its climate-centric economic transformation. And it would be a marked change of course from President Donald Trump's first Energy secretary, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who used the position to promote natural gas exports and push regulators to prop up coal as a power source.
Most of the Energy Department's budget is devoted to maintaining the country's nuclear weapons arsenal, but it also operates the 17 national labs that have helped develop advanced technology used in renewables, nuclear energy and fossil fuel production. Under former President Barack Obama, the Energy Department oversaw tens of billions of dollars in loan guarantees and grants that expanded the adoption of solar and wind power, helping drive a steep drop in the prices of renewable electricity. Those achievements were tarnished at the time by the scandal over Solyndra, a solar technology company that collapsed after taking more than $500 million in federal funds.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/15/biden-to-tap-former-michigan-gov-granholm-to-lead-energy-department-445782
= new reply since forum marked as read
I love this woman.
I stood and cheered her speech at the DNC.
