This week, appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Energy Secretary and former Michigan Democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm, eager to champion climate change issues, stated that when she drives her Chevy Bolt, “I drive on sunshine.”
Host Joy Behar pontificated, “So, since the last administration — we will keep them nameless right now— wasted four years not caring about the condition of the planet they leave behind for my grandson and other people, future generations, I’m thrilled, thrilled, that this administration is taking climate change seriously. I mean, I really worry about stuff like that; it keeps me up at night, but many people still don’t — they think that the price tag for green initiatives is too high. Who or what do you see as the biggest obstacles now in making real change?”
“Yeah, I mean, first of all, Joy, thanks for this question,” Granholm replied. “I mean, Joe Biden has said when he hears the words ‘climate change,’ he thinks of jobs, and the opportunity here for Americans in every pocket of the country to experience both the benefits of cost reduction as a result of clean energy, as well as jobs, is so exciting. It’s why I’m so honored to be part of this, because the mission here is about deploying clean energy and about creating jobs all over the country, all kinds of jobs for all kinds of people, and with respect to cost, I mean, just as one example, Joy, I mean, I drive a Chevy Bolt, which is an electric vehicle.”
Granholm, who attended the University of California, Berkeley before getting her law degree at Harvard, continued, “I don’t have to buy gasoline. The average person who gets an electric vehicle saves $600 a year because you don’t have to fill it up. I have solar panels on my house. So I drive on sunshine. That’s a fantastic technological advancement and that’s what the Department of Energy is all about, is solutions like that.”
VIDEO – Energy Sec. Granholm: ‘I Have Solar Panels on My House So I Drive on Sunshine’ https://t.co/PFsEFmHZQ1
— Grabien (@GrabienMedia) March 3, 2021
Granholm served as governor of Michigan between 2003-2011. “Michigan led the nation in unemployment from April 2006 to May of 2010, and it is estimated the state lost more than 600,000 jobs during her eight-year tenure,” MLive reported.
Michigan Capitol Confidential claimed in 2015, “During Granholm’s eight-year tenure as governor, Michigan lost more jobs than any other state in the nation and had among the worst economic collapses of any going back to the Great Depression. Michigan lost 576,900 jobs over Granholm’s two terms and led the nation in unemployment for 45 consecutive months from May 2006 to January 2010.”
Christopher Douglas, an associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, said Granholm’s policies were highly counter-productive, but cautioned, “I think you can make convincing arguments that the yearly budget crisis and can-kicking contributed to job losses, as businesses hate uncertainty, as well as diverting state resources towards crony capitalist endeavors such as movie studios, green energy, and so forth.” He said the primary cause of the job losses was rising gas prices that choked demand for SUVs as well as major auto companies losing sight of consumer preferences.