Former Gov. Granholm Must Take A Bold and Urgent Approach to Climate Change, One That Puts Equity At The Forefront

Media Contact:

Michael Givens
Associate Director of Strategic Communications
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Phone: +1-857-540-0617
Email: mgivens@uusc.org

Cambridge, MA— President-elect Joe Biden has selected former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to serve as U.S. Secretary of Energy. Granholm served two terms as Michigan’s governor and prior to that served as the state’s attorney general. She was the first woman to serve in both positions. Currently an adjunct professor of public policy and law at UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy and UC Berkeley School of Law, respectively, Granholm is a staunch advocate for a federal clean energy policy. She has publicly denounced the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, and was instrumental in working with the Obama administration on a bailout package for Chrysler and General Motors that encouraged the two automobile corporations to invest in more green technology and jobs during the 2008 economic collapse.

Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, CEO and president of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, released the following statement in response:

“Jennifer Granholm has a proven track record of promoting alternative energy while creating green jobs. She has also spoken out against fossil fuel projects that violate Indigenous rights and endanger the welfare of the planet. Her planned appointment marks a promising recognition that climate and environmental justice must be core to the Energy Department’s mission.

We must prioritize the solutions of grassroot communities and we need officials who value engagement with communities impacted by injustice. At risk are the rights of communities of color facing displacement from the adverse impacts of climate change, as well as communities resisting extractive industries.

The Energy Secretary will play a defining role in determining how the United States responds to the existential crisis of climate change—an emergency that disproportionately threatens communities of color. Absent an overwhelming shift from the disastrous policies of the Trump administration, the damage to the planet will become even more severe, directly impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the U.S. and throughout the rest of the world.

As such, we are calling on the Biden administration to go far beyond simply rejoining the Paris Agreement. The United States has released more carbon than any other country in the world, so it has a responsibility to pay their fair share. For starters, that means dramatically slashing emissions, providing support to other nations to cut their emissions and protect themselves from climate impacts, and overturning Trump-era executive actions that are undermining the regulation of carbon emissions and toxins.

We need an equitable, aggressive approach to climate change. The next energy secretary must help ensure that happens.”

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The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization advancing human rights together with an international community of grassroots partners and advocates.