Secretary Granholm penned an Op-Ed for USA Today, outlining how imbalances with China have made our economy vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and put us at a huge disadvantage in the global clean energy race.
June 17, 2021
minute read time
After serving as Governor of Michigan, I visited China to see its vaunted clean energy manufacturing efforts. During one stop, a member of the Chinese delegation asked me when the United States would adopt its own national energy strategy to develop and build the clean energy products we knew would be in high demand.
With polarization in Congress, I explained, it wasn’t likely any time soon. Take your time, he replied, smiling.
It was as obvious to me then as it is now: China sees our passivity as their opportunity.
In the 10 years since, China has invested nationwide to manufacture 21st century products, from electric vehicle batteries and solar panels to semiconductors. Meanwhile, the U.S. has simply grown more reliant on other countries to supply the ingredients in our cars, our phones, our lives. We have ceded the skyrocketing clean energy market to our economic competitors – and created vulnerabilities in our own economy.
No longer.
Read the rest of this Op-Ed in USA Today.
Jennifer M. Granholm
Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
Jennifer M. Granholm was sworn in as the 16th Secretary of Energy on February 25, 2021.
Secretary Granholm led DOE's work to advance the cutting-edge clean energy technologies that helped America achieve President Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while creating millions of good-paying union clean energy jobs and building an equitable economy. Secretary Granholm also oversaw DOE’s core missions of promoting American leadership in scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent and reducing nuclear danger, and remediating the environmental harms caused by legacy defense programs.
Prior to her nomination as Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm was elected Governor of Michigan, serving two terms from 2003 to 2011.
After two terms as governor, Jennifer Granholm joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the Goldman School of Public Policy, focusing on the intersection of law, clean energy, manufacturing, policy, and industry.
Secretary Granholm is an honors graduate of both the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.
Departmental Initiatives
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There is no greater challenge facing our nation and our planet than the climate crisis. -
Revitalize the U.S. energy and manufacturing sectors and create millions of good-paying union jobs. -
The clean energy revolution must make sure those who have suffered the most are the first to benefit.