Jennifer Granholm, twice Michigan’s governor and a clean energy supporter, was confirmed as the newest energy secretary in late February.
As the first-in-command at the Department of Energy, an agency of the cabinet that fetched nearly $ 35 billion for fiscal year 2021, Granholm oversees a panoramic work portfolio, covering everything from energy efficiency, artificial intelligence, climate change and advanced to nuclear manufacturing – cleaning of waste, non-proliferation and maintenance of the country’s formidable nuclear arsenal.
The last few are especially important in and around Aiken County.
Granholm was confirmed by Senate 64-35 – a bipartisan count, with support coming from California and Idaho and New Mexico and Nevada and Washington, a handful of states with Department of Energy facilities.
The two South Carolina senators, Republicans Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, voted against Granholm’s nomination, as did legislators in Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, a few other states with significant interests in the Department of Energy.
Graham “did not believe” that Granholm “was the right person for the job at the moment”, according to Kevin Bishop, a spokesperson. “That’s why he opposed your appointment.”
Scott voted against Granholm’s nomination, according to spokesman Bradford Traywick, because he “is dedicated to protecting the jobs of American workers in our energy sector.”
“Senator Scott believes that Ms. Granholm’s commitment to President Biden’s progressive and job-destroying energy policies is a step backwards from energy independence,” Traywick continued in a statement to the Aiken Standard.
It is a family criticism. When the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources considered advancing Granholm’s nomination to the full Senate – as was finally done, 13-4 – some lawmakers attacked the Biden government’s energy platform and a recent avalanche of executive decrees.
“Governor Granholm has also stated several times that he did not want to see anyone lose their job or be left behind,” said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican. “But that is exactly what the Biden government is doing.” Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, added: “I not only expected, but intended to vote for her before these executive actions were taken,” he said. “For the reasons stated by Senator Barrasso, I cannot, in good conscience, confirm this position knowing that it is the approach that this government is taking.”
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, climbs the stairs of the Statehouse in Columbia alongside then Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.
The Department of Energy, which Granholm now leads, manages the Savannah River site, where millions of gallons of radioactive waste await processing, where the Savannah River National Laboratory is located, where tritium is handled and packaged and where the cores or triggers for modern nuclear weapons could eventually be produced.
In a speech to the Waste Management Symposium earlier this month, Granholm said the department “has a mission to save our planet and the people who live on it, and the Environmental Management program, of course, is one of the most important tools this fight. ”Environmental Management is DOE’s remediation office; has the task of cleaning up the legacy of Cold War weapons production and government-sponsored energy research.
“In the coming years,” continued Granholm, “we will take our cleaning work to the next level.”
Moving forward, Graham hopes to have a “professional working relationship with Secretary Granholm,” said Bishop. “It is not uncommon for senators to vote against a nominee and then work with him when they take up their position in the cabinet.”
Again, Bishop emphasized, “he expects them to have a professional and work relationship.” The statement provided by Scott’s office did not answer questions about his future relationship. (Even before Granholm was confirmed, Rep. Joe Wilson, another Republican from South Carolina, invited her to visit the Savannah River site and congratulated her on the “recent appointment”. Her January letter was addressed to “Madame Secretary” .)
Graham and Scott, former members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted to confirm Rick Perry as energy secretary in early 2017. When Perry’s appointment went public, Graham praised: “Governor Perry brings a lot to the table as a very successful governor of a great energy-rich state. He defends the goal of energy independence and has always talked about the need for an energy revolution in the United States. He is a great choice to lead DOE, which has a substantial impact on South Carolina. ”
When Perry abruptly resigned in late 2019, his deputy, Dan Brouillette, was appointed.
Neither Graham nor Scott voted at the time, the records show.