Commentary

Earlier this month, I wrote about the smug response Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s energy secretary, gave to a reporter who questioned her lack of concern for the significant threat to national security caused by the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, which serves 45 percent of the gasoline and other fuels on the East Coast.

When the reporter asked how this affected the overall effort toward renewable energy, Granholm, with an arrogant smile said, “If you drive an electric car, this would not be affecting you.”

Last week, she finally sold hundreds of thousands of shares in a green energy company, Protera.  A company that incidentally has received the backing of the Biden administration, according the Washington Free Beacon.

Her arrogance was revealed as she confirmed that she had earned a $1.6 million profit on her shares of Protera, an electric bus manufacturer repeatedly promoted by the administration. In selling off her shares, she was able to defer paying capital gains on the $1.6 million sale because cabinet officials are not penalized with the tax on assets they are required to sell as a condition of joining the administration.

Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Barrasso have been demanding a DOE IG review of her stake in the company, while Republican Representatives Ralph Norman and Jim Banks wrote to her directly demanding documents on her shares in Protera.

In a side note, Biden’s defense secretary, Gen. Lloyd Austin, will make up to $1.7 million by leaving the board of defense contractor Raytheon.

The news came as Biden is seeking to raise the capital gains tax on America’s wealthiest families.

Granholm has played a major role in crafting Biden’s infrastructure plan, which includes a $174 billion for investment in the electric vehicle market and … wait for it … a “Clean Buses for Kids” program, to electrify at least 20 percent of the nation’s school buses, and the replacement of 50,000 government diesel vehicles.

Why, you may be asking.  School boards need an incentive to go electric.  The majority of school buses run on diesel fuel and cost about a third that of electric buses.

“People want them,” said Trevor Rudderham, Blue Bird’s senior vice president for product planning and electrification,” but the issue is they’re very expensive.”

So, the administration needs to step in with subsidies on technology that will lower the economy of scale for cash-strapped school districts, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported.

The American Federation of Teachers and a number of environmental groups are seeking “set asides” for school districts hardest hit by climate change to cover the costs of purchasing electric buses and the installation of charging stations.

Two weeks after Biden’s election, Protera opened a battery manufacturing site in California, thanks to a DOE grant to companies accelerating the advancement of alternate fuel vehicles.  The Blue Bird bus firm was awarded $4.4 million to develop a zero emissions electric school bus.

Protera CEO, Jack Allen, won praise for his “amazing” work during the White House Leaders Summit on Climate.  In a set up discussion, Gina McCarthy, Biden’s national climate advisor, asked Allen what role the federal government could play in “spurring the demand for zero emission electric vehicles, including school buses.”

Biden continues to say we can compete with China, but our work is cut out for us as China reportedly supplies 99 percent of the electric buses.

But, back to Granholm.  Once a Michigander, I followed her activities as governor years after leaving the state as a matter of interest.  She has a history of diverting taxpayer funds for “investment” in companies that have failed.

She gave A123 Systems, a battery manufacturer for the Fisker automobile, $10 million from the state coffers and persuaded President Obama to throw in $250 million before it went bankrupt in 2012.

In 2005, then Governor Granholm created a $2 billion job creation package to aid NextEnergy, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the development of alternative energy technology, in collaboration with Wayne State University.

Electrifying school buses just scratches the surface of her green agenda.  Beyond transportation, she’s looking at clean energy homes, industry and buildings and new standards for appliances, with plans to reverse Trump’s energy standards.

If you’re wondering how Biden’s infrastructure bill became more than a roads and bridges effort, look no further than Granholm, who was asked to define infrastructure on ABC’s This Week.

“It’s what makes the economy move … (what) we all need to ensure that we as citizens are productive.”  While agreeing that we need roads and bridges, “we need transmission … lights in people’s homes and offices …you need to make sure people can actually go to work if they have an aging parent or a child (paid leave, child care),” she said, adding that infrastructure “evolves” to meet the American people’s aspirations.

“We don’t want to use past definitions of infrastructure when we are moving into the future,” Granholm espoused. So long to plain English and transparency.

MY JUNE FOOL’S DAY WINNER is not Jennifer Granholm, for obvious reasons. It goes again to President Biden, who continues to be made fool of by his advisors pushing the New Green Deal.

Now, more than ever, may God continue to bless the United States of America.