US Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday that as a result of the Biden Administration’s ask of the industry, domestic oil and gas “will have increased production by about a million barrels per day,” though “we probably have to increase more than that in order to get prices down to a reasonable level.”
Granholm also told reporters at an event at a community solar farm in Maryland that the Biden administration’s invocation of the Defense Production Act to boost solar is “totally underscoring this effort to make it in America, to stamp it ‘Made in America,’ to use it in America, and then perhaps, in some instances to export it around the world for others’ use as well.” Congressional Democrats, however, appear somewhat split, with some who represent local solar manufacturers, like Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur or Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, opposed the measure as overly beneficial to China, while others were much more supportive. Granholm said: “We are sending a message to American manufacturers and installers, which is the time is now to invest in expansion, because President Biden will have your back.”
Also on the Hill, Granholm praised the Senate vote to confirm Shalanda Baker to the Energy Department’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, saying: “There is no more effective champion for building an equitable, just, clean energy economy than Shalanda.” (Oil and Gas production: MSNBC interview; DPA: PoliticoPRO $; Shalanda Baker: PoliticoPRO $)