Secretary Granholm penned an op-ed in the Las Vegas Sun following her trip to the Silver State and highlighting the potential in clean energy in Nevada.
June 13, 2021
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Traveling to the Silver State last week, I saw the country’s future coming to life. Nevada’s new clean energy package, Senate Bill 448, marks important steps to seize the potential in clean energy, creating well-paying new jobs, lowering energy bills, raising health outcomes and helping stave off the worst effects of climate change.
With President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan, all of America will follow suit.
Speaking directly with Nevadans leading the state toward this clean energy future, the promise ahead becomes clear.
Across the state, over 41,000 Nevadans already work in clean energy and grid jobs — and more than 4 in 10 of them are people of color. This workforce has enabled the state to produce the second-most geothermal energy in the nation, and the fourth-most utility scale solar. I saw their efforts up close on a tour of the Townsite Solar plant outside of Boulder City with Raquel, a foreman at the plant and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Thanks to Raquel and her colleagues, along with the state’s aggressive use of net metering, Nevadans have enough solar capacity to power over half of the state’s homes. And in Northern Nevada, Tesla’s Gigafactory has the state playing a lead role in manufacturing the batteries that are so critical to the clean energy future — showcasing the long-term benefits of public-private partnerships, as Tesla has flourished since receiving a $465 million Department of Energy loan in 2010.
Read the rest of this Op-Ed in the Las Vegas Sun.
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.