Republicans
on the
House Energy and Commerce Committee
asked Energy Secretary
Jennifer Granholm
to retract recent comments she made commending China for its work on addressing and investing in
climate change
and
energy
.
The GOP members of the committee sent a letter to Granholm calling her statements an “unserious perspective” on China’s threat to the United States, a topic at the forefront of Republican lawmakers’ agendas since they took the majority in the House.
“China poses one of the greatest economic, military, and geopolitical threats to the United States, while continuing to be one of the world’s worst polluters,” the committee’s letter states. “As the Secretary of Energy, your core responsibilities involve national security, particularly maintaining and certifying the reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent and protecting our most sensitive technological secrets from theft by our chief adversaries, Russia and China.”
JENNIFER GRANHOLM CLAIMS US CAN ‘LEARN FROM WHAT CHINA IS DOING’
Granholm said the U.S. could ”
learn from what China is doing
” in an interview on Friday at the annual SXSW conference in Texas.
“But I think China has done — has been very sensitive and has actually invested a lot in their solutions to achieve their goals,” Granholm said. “So we’re — we’re hopeful that, you know, we can all learn from what China is doing.”
She added that the amount of money China is investing “in clean energy is actually, you know, encouraging.”
However, her comments sparked criticism and debate among Republicans, particularly those who are on the Energy Committee. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX)
tweeted
that Granholm was “outwardly siding with China against American energy producers.”
The letter — led by Committee Chairwoman
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
(R-WA), Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chairman Bill Johnson (R-OH) — also expressed its concern over the U.S.’s growing reliance on Chinese supply chains for energy, as well as blasting China for its coal emissions.
A 2019
report
from the Rhodium Group determined that China accounts for 27% of total global emissions, triple the total of the U.S., which ranks as the world’s second-largest emitter. In 2022, China hit its coal-production record by
permitting
106 gigawatts of new coal power capacity, quadrupling the amount approved in 2021, per the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor.
“We are deeply concerned that the rush-to-green agenda of this administration, which you are leading to implement, is putting the United States on a perilous path in which the energy that powers our homes, businesses, and livelihoods will run straight through China with critical minerals supply chains,” they wrote.
The members concluded their letter by asking Granholm to testify before the committee immediately. She is expected to testify about President
Joe Biden
‘s budget proposal in the next few months.
“Instead of acclaiming China and the CCP and amplifying its propaganda, let’s join together in exposing the dangers of our growing dependence upon China for energy, transportation, and technology systems,” the letter said. “Let’s join together to safeguard American technology from the CCP’s relentless efforts to steal and exploit our innovations for its military and economic agenda.”
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The Energy Department said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the U.S. is on a path to being a leading country in clean energy.
“It is an unfortunate fact that for years China and other countries have outpaced the United States in clean energy investments,” the department said. “But now, because of President Biden’s vision, the U.S. is positioned to be the most attractive place for clean energy investments — reshoring American jobs and strengthening our national security.”
