Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm voiced support on Wednesday for transitioning the military to exclusively rely upon electric vehicles before 2030.
Granholm affirmed her faith in the Biden administration proposal in a hearing for the Senate Armed Services Committee in which Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) pressed her on whether the policy would hinder the lethality of the military. She insisted that electrification would decrease vulnerability to worldwide turbulence in the fossil fuel sector.
“I do think that reducing our reliance on the volatility of globally traded fossil fuels, where we know that global events such as the war in Ukraine can jack up prices for people back home does not contribute to energy security,” she commented. “I think energy security is achieved when we have home-grown, clean energy that is abundant.”
White House officials have indeed suggested an increase in electric vehicle reliance over the past two years as part of a broader renewable energy adoption in the federal government. President Joe Biden vowed in a speech last year that his administration would “start the process where every vehicle in the United States military” would become “climate friendly.”
“You know, in my view, this crisis, as I said, is a genuine opportunity,” he added. “An opportunity to do things we wanted to do, and only now it’s become so apparent.”
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks likewise asserted two years ago that creating a “zero emissions non-tactical vehicle fleet” and optimizing “energy use in our tactical vehicles” is a necessary part of the military’s climate mission. “Tactical vehicle electrification, initially through hybrid electric technology, has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it should also provide significant operational capability,” she claimed. “Electric vehicles are quiet. They have a low heat signature, and incredible torque, and because they tend to be low maintenance with fewer moving parts. They have the potential to reduce logistics requirements, all with these attributes can help give our troops an edge on the battlefield.”
Electric vehicles nevertheless require charging infrastructure and are currently seen by some as less reliable than internal combustion vehicles. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) introduced a bill last year to require at least 75% of the 174,000 non-tactical vehicles used by the Defense Department to be electric or zero emission since most of the government’s annual emissions come from the agency. The bill, however, did not suggest electrifying tactical vehicles.
Senior officials in the Biden administration have pursued similar objectives in other federal agencies such as the Postal Service, which will acquire 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028. The administration has established the overall goal of procuring only zero emission light-duty vehicles for the federal fleet by 2027 and will extend the standard to all federal vehicles by 2035.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
The Biden administration, which has established a “whole-of-government effort” to reduce carbon emissions and incentivize renewables, has also introduced new emissions rules for gas stoves, air conditioners, and mobile homes.
The EPA most recently proposed vehicle emissions standards that would aim to increase adoption of electric cars, effectively inducing a 56% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions for light-duty vehicles, as well as a 44% decrease for medium-duty vehicles. The regulations would attempt to change market conditions such that electric vehicles constitute the majority of new sales for light-duty vehicles and nearly half of new sales for medium-duty vehicles by 2032.