Photo: Alamy
United States Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm received backlash after a Fox News digital report revealed Granholm met twice with a high-ranking member of the Chinese government right before the White House chose to tap into emergency oil reserves.
Granholm met with Chinese National Energy Administration Chairman Zhang Jianhua, a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party.
According to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., “the Energy and Commerce Committee will be demanding answers and full transparency from [Secretary Granholm.]”
Rodgers is alluding to a correlation between when Granholm attended these secret meetings and the Biden administration’s decision to release 50 million gallons of oil.
The groundwork for these clandestine meetings can be found in Granholm’s comment that China is “very sensitive” when it comes to the subject of climate change, and says, “the amount of money that [China] is investing in clean energy is actually, you know, encouraging.”
It is worth noting for context that according to Climate Trade, China is listed as the world’s number one polluter among countries in the world. Chin is responsible for releasing 10,065 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
Granholm’s comments sparked some criticism from Republicans who think Granholm is “outwardly siding with China against American energy producers.”
This pushback is not unfounded, especially in light of the recent revelation of Granholm’s secret meetings with Chinese officials that led to the release of oil by the Biden administration.
The actions of both Secretary Granholm and the Biden administration have led to the passage of a piece of legislation called Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
The creation and passage of the act led by Chairwoman Rodgers blocks the Biden administration from selling any strategic petroleum reserve products to China. This act also ensures petroleum reserves are drawn from sparingly and only used in case of a serious national emergency.
