U.S. Senate confirms Michigan’s Granholm as secretary of Energy

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday in a 64-35 vote confirmed former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run the Department of Energy.

She’ll be the second woman to lead the $35 billion agency.

Sen. Gary Peters, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, gave his support for Granholm on the Senate floor, and said he was looking forward to seeing how she incorporates climate change and advances energy technology in U.S. energy policy.

“I could not be more excited to say that we will have a fellow Michigander leading the Department of Energy,” he said. “It is clear that she also recognizes what must be done to advance our nation’s energy interests because she has already achieved results in Michigan.”

In her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Granholm vowed to promote clean energy jobs. The committee voted 13-4 to advance her nomination to the Senate floor.

As the Biden administration aims to move toward reducing use of fossil fuels in an effort to combat climate change, GOP lawmakers have been critical, arguing that will result in job losses.

“I am obsessed with creating good-paying jobs in America,” Granholm told senators during her hearing.

Granholm has also expressed concern over the U.S. electrical grid system, arguing that there is a need for swift innovation.

“America’s electricity grid is simply not able to handle extreme weather events,” she wrote in a tweet. “Whether it’s wildfires in California or snowstorms in Texas, we need to upgrade our grid infrastructure ASAP.”

Some of those Republican senators who voted against her nomination included Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana; Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida; Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa; Thom Tillis of North Carolina; Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt of Missouri; and Roger Marshall of Kansas

Granholm was the first woman to serve as Michigan’s governor and is credited with helping shift the state toward clean energy jobs when the recession hit automakers.