The Biden administration’s energy czar, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, recently asserted that drastically reducing oil imports could enhance the nation’s energy security.
In a speech delivered in Seattle, Granholm praised President Biden’s commitment to green energy and his goal of achieving 100 percent clean electricity by 2035. Granholm stated, “With all this electrification, we could slash our net crude oil imports by almost 60%, and that strengthens energy security.” Granholm also commended Vice President Kamala Harris for championing clean energy initiatives within the White House.
However, these comments have sparked criticism, with opponents claiming that Biden’s green energy agenda has so far undermined, rather than bolstered, energy security.
Regulators reported in May that over 66 percent of the country was at risk of summer blackouts due to new environmental regulations targeting fossil fuels. They argued that government policies were spurring an increase in energy demand that renewables could not meet.
Concerns about national security have also been raised amidst the transition to green energy, as many materials required for renewable technologies are imported from China. Alex Epstein, Founder and President of the Center for Industrial Progress, suggested that Biden’s restrictions on domestic fossil fuel production, coupled with a reliance on solar and wind energy primarily produced by China, posed a significant threat to U.S. energy and national security.
Granholm has previously made similar claims about the potential benefits of transitioning to clean energy. During a trip to Japan in April, she argued that accelerating the clean energy transition would strengthen global energy security. These comments were made despite recent calls from a coalition for Granholm’s resignation over alleged ethics violations.
