House Oversight Committee Launches Investigation Into Biden Official's EV Road Trip That Led to 911 Call
House Republicans are investigating Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s summer EV publicity trip that made news by having the police called on it.
As noted by WRDW-TV, on June 27 while Granholm was making her way through Georgia, a woman made a 911 call that led to police being dispatched when a staff member blocked the charger to ensure Granholm could drive up to use it.
“I’m calling because I’m at the Grovetown Walmart at the charging station, and there’s literally a non-electric car that is taking up the space. He says they’re holding the space for somebody else, and it’s holding up a whole bunch of people who need to charge their cars,” the 911 call went that reported the incident. The woman noted that on the sweltering June day, there was a baby in her vehicle that had to wait and wait and wait due to the blocked charger.
According to NPR, Granholm was in a Cadillac Lyriq, with an MSRP close to $60,000 and a stated range of up to 314 miles.
🚨BREAKING🚨@RepJamesComer and @RepPatFallon are investigating U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s taxpayer-funded electric vehicle road trip this past summer.
The trip consisted of the Secretary and DOE staff traveling across multiple states and was… pic.twitter.com/5aIPkbmJMk
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 26, 2023
In a post on X, the panel said the misadventure “led to a Georgia family traveling on a hot day with an infant and a low charge on their EV battery to call 911 out of urgency as DOE employees used a non-EV car to ‘hold’ a charger for the incoming Energy Secretary because of limited, slow, and nonworking EV chargers along the route.”
“This comes as the Biden Administration continues its attempt to force a radical increase in EVs on America’s roads. In a letter to Secretary Granholm, Chairman Comer and Rep. Fallon request documents and communications to understand the purposes, costs, and consequences of Secretary Granholm’s trip,” the panel posted.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky and Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas authored a letter to Granholm demanding details on the cost and logistics of the trip.
“We are alarmed by recent reports of your four-day summer 2023 electric vehicle (EV) road trip apparently intended to showcase the Biden Administration’s progress in achieving a radical green agenda,” Comer and Fallon wrote in their letter.
“Using an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, your Department of Energy (DOE) staff blocked off an EV-only charging station so you could stay on a schedule which was ‘painstakingly mapped out ahead of time’ because of limited, slow, and nonworking EV chargers along your route,” they wrote, noting how the Georgia family suffered for the sake of her schedule.
“This taxpayer-funded publicity stunt illustrates yet again how out of touch the Biden Administration is with the consequences of policies it has unleashed on everyday Americans,” they wrote.
The letter stated that the trip was “reportedly ‘intended to draw attention to the billions of dollars the White House is pouring into green energy and clean cars.’ Yet at every point on this journey, you relied upon ICE vehicles using gasoline to try to boost the charade of the effectiveness of green energy.”
“Your fleet of EVs could not complete the trip without the support of the fossil fuel industry which you and the Biden Administration have been intent to vilify and destroy.”
In addition to failing to charge vehicles fully in order to maintain the façade that only a lunch break was needed to keep going, the letter said Granholm “did not even make serious, practical decisions on the EV vehicles chosen for the road trip.”
“DOE avoided any use of Tesla vehicles or technology, which automakers who have invested billions in green energy are embracing,” the letter said, adding, “DOE’s exclusion of Tesla from your EV road trip raises questions whether the decision was politically motivated.”
A release from the panel said the investigation is part of a wider agenda.
“The Oversight Committee is investigating the impact of the Biden Administration’s attempt to force a radical increase in the number of EVs on America’s roads and to impose sweeping green regulation on traditional cars, trucks, other highway vehicles, and locomotives,” the release said, noting that Environmental Protection Agency rules call for 67 percent of all new car sales be electric vehicles by 2032.
“A radical adoption of EVs through burdensome regulation poses risks to the already strained U.S. power grid and supply chain, removes consumer choice, and leaves domestic energy producers searching for answers.”
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