News/Commentary

Biden energy secretary deflects blame to ‘fantastic’ staff over EV charger debacle

September 16, 2023 | | Print Article

An electric vehicle debacle that involved the police was brushed aside as “poor judgment” by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm with a hint at what that might mean for her team’s future as she was grilled on Capitol Hill.

Maintaining a trend seen throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, the buck appeared to stop wherever remained most convenient for those in charge to avoid consequences. Such was the case Thursday when Granholm testified before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee where she was questioned on a June incident.

Given his turn to address the Biden official, Florida Rep. Scott Franklin (R) turned to the recent report that the secretary’s staff had used a gas-powered vehicle to block a charging station ahead of Granholm’s arrival during a summer road trip.

“Was that situation true?” asked the congressman, earning an immediate deflection from the secretary, “Yeah, I’ve seen the reports-”

“Well, you were there,” interrupted Franklin, “regardless of the reports.”

“I wasn’t saving the spot,” she tried again before another effort to move away from the matter. “Let me just say, I have a fantastic young staff, just fantastic.”

“Well, that’s neither here nor there,” asserted the Florida lawmaker who reiterated the summary of the report, “…so that you could do it and not be deterred from your travels.”

With the blame pointed wholly at her, Granholm opted to distance herself from the allegations and replied, “It was poor judgment on the part of the team.”

“I can only imagine they wanted to continue moving, but the bottom line is it’s not gonna happen again,” she added with an ominous tease at consequences for those who’d led to her embarrassment.

As had been previously reported, many had mocked the incident as though it were something out of a “bad sitcom episode” after the June road trip through South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia hit a snag in the Peach State where the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office had been summoned after, “on a sweltering day, with a baby in the vehicle” a family got upset over being blocked from charging their vehicle.

“I’m calling because I’m in the Grovetown Walmart at the charging station and there’s literally a non-electric car that is taking up a space and said they’re holding the space for somebody else,” the woman who complained of the secretary’s staff had said on her 911 call. “And it’s holding up a whole bunch of people who need to charge their cars.”

“There are other people who are waiting to charge and they’re still here and they’re not in electric cars. The sign says you can’t park here unless you’re charging,” the call to police dispatch went on.

Franklin used the report to support the case against the fervent push from the Biden administration to force the market into adopting electric vehicles as the norm when the infrastructure had yet to be established.

“I don’t personally have an issue with electric vehicles. The technology is not there to support what this administration is doing,” he remarked.

Others saw fit to chide Granholm over the lack of accountability and denial of reality.

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Kevin Haggerty
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