President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate the environmental advocate and former governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm for Secretary of Energy, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources in the know.
Granholm served two terms as Michigan's first female governor and was a supporter of EV battery plants for the state and diversifying its energy mix into renewables.
According to Politico, if Granholm is confirmed by Senate, her experience in dealing with the car manufacturing industry would be put to good use in Biden's plan to accelerate electric car sales.
Perhaps even more importantly, according to Politico's Tyler Pager and Zack Colman, "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."
"We're glad that President-elect Biden is listening to the thousands of climate justice activists who opposed fossil fuel representatives like Ernest Moniz for Secretary of Energy," Greenpeace USA Senior Climate Campaigner Lisa Ramsden said in a statement, as quoted by The Hill.
"Jennifer Granholm has forcefully spoken out against both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and advocated for shifting investment from oil and gas to renewable energy solutions. That's the kind of leadership the Department of Energy has been sorely missing."
Climate action is at the top of the Biden agenda, so it would make sense to appoint as Energy Secretary someone with a track record in environmental action, according to media. No official confirmation of Granholm's nomination has been made yet.
Granholm served as governor of Michigan between 2003 and 2011, during which time she helped the auto industry tackle the financial crisis, with help from then-Vice President Biden. Granholm also co-chaired Hillary Clinton's transition team in 2016, Axios recalls, when she declared her support for decarbonizing the economy.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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