Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm pointed to the decision to stop buying oil from Russia in response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine as a reason "why we can’t rely on the volatility of fossil fuels" and said that the United States needs to transition to "clean energy" for national security.
During a segment of CNN's "New Day with John Berman and Brianna Keilar" about high gas prices, Granholm said, "Just remember, the reason for this surge, though, is, yes, coming out of COVID, but also because when Putin invaded Ukraine, Russia is one of the largest exporters of oil, and all these countries like the United States, Canada, E.U., said we're not going to take Russian oil, that pulled all those barrels off the market."
"So supply and demand were way out of match," she continued.
MANCHIN-SCHUMER BILL WOULD REINSTATE TAX ON IMPORTED OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
"So the president tried to increase supply all at the same time as accelerating our movement to clean energy which is why this whole circumstance is really a foot stomp on why we can't rely on the volatility of fossil fuels," Granholm said.
The United States decided it would not purchase Russian oil in protest over Putin's invasion of Ukraine, while at the same time Biden praised the resulting high gas prices as a necessary step in the "incredible transition" to so-called green energy.
In June, Biden said that Americans would pay higher gas prices "as long as it takes" to defeat Russia.
"Think about energy security. If we really want to be nationally secure, we should be energy secure," Granholm argued.
"And that doesn’t just mean oil and gas. That means increasing our ability to deploy clean energy. So we’re not so reliant upon the volatility of fossil fuels, that means the tax credit provisions in this deal will incentivize the deployment of all kinds of clean energy, wind and solar, yes, but also geothermal, nuclear, and there is a whole array of zero carbon technologies that will be incentivized and that’s very good news," she continued.
Granholm bragged that "solar and wind are now the cheapest form of energy."
Others argue a better way to ensure America's national security is to increase oil production domestically by removing regulatory barriers put into place by the Biden administration.
