Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testified Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee that she supported requiring the United States military to move to an all-electric non-vehicle fleet by 2030.
When asked by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) if she supported doing that, Granholm responded, “I do, and I think we can get there as well.”
She added, “And I do think that reducing our reliance on the volatility of globally-traded fossil fuels where we know that global events, such as the war in Ukraine, can jack up prices for people back home – it does not contribute to energy security.”
“I think energy security is achieved when we have homegrown, clean energy that is abundant, like you see in Iowa. We think we can be a leader globally in how we have become energy-independent,” she said.
Ernst has been a staunch critic of the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles, which she says require lithium and cobalt, which are often mined and processed with slave labor in China or child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last year, Ernst — a combat veteran and retired Iowa National Guard colonel — succeeded in including a provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act prohibiting electric vehicle component sourcing from any entity that uses child or slave labor.
The provision also requires a report detailing the costs associated with replacing the Department of Defense’s 170,000 non-tactical vehicles with electric ones, the costs of the required infrastructure to support doing so, as well as current and projected sourcing shortfalls.
On Tuesday, she tweeted, “President Biden’s new EV rule is not only unsustainable and unaffordable, it makes us more reliant on foreign adversaries and their immoral force labor practices.”
Granholm’s testimony stirred pushback on social media.
A retired Army colonel tweeted:
.@SecGranholm knows zero about battlefield realities. There’s zero chance of our military forces being able to field an all EV fleet in a mere 7 years. More importantly such an effort would make the military almost completely dependent on China for its source of fuel.
A retired Air Force officer tweeted:
Asinine. As a former military member and Pentagon officer, this is what you get when you have political appointees appointed into these [senior civil service] positions – someone brain dead in charge of things but they are only in the position because they/family donated; fill a DEI quota; or related to a politician.
A former Trump administration official and combat veteran tweeted:
It’s almost like they want us to fail.
Granholm was also queried on what she knew about the Department of Energy choosing Microvast — a lithium battery company that primarily operates out of China — for a $200 million grant. Republican senators raised alarm bells on the grant, prompting the Biden administration to say it is under review, as previously reported by Breitbart News.
Granholm claimed that selections were merely “named,” and all of the companies chosen are going through a vetting process to ensure there is “no money going to countries of concern.”
“Not a dollar has gone out the door yet,” she said.
Related — Granholm: We Want to “Accelerate the Transition to Clean Energy,” EVs Will Help Consumers “If” They’re Able to Get One “Eventually”
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