Senate confirms former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as energy secretary
25 February 2021
The Senatevoted 64-35 on Thursday to confirm former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as secretary of the Department of Energy.
Why it matters: Granholm, only the second woman to head the department, will play a key role in President Biden’s efforts to accelerate the U.S. shift to clean energy and help other countries do the same.
- Granholm said she hopes to strengthen solar and wind power usage, and to boost the development of clean-energy technologies, like electric vehicles.
The big picture: Granholm served two terms as Michigan's governor from 2003 to 2011, during which she focused on boosting the auto and manufacturing sectors.
- She served as Michigan's attorney general from 1998 to 2002.
- Granholm has also worked as an adviser to Pew Charitable Trusts’ Clean Energy Program.
The bottom line: Granholm's experience working with the auto industry, especially its venture into electric vehicles, is viewed as an important asset in fulfilling Biden's climate agenda.
- While serving as governor of Michigan, Granholm secured $1.35 billion in federal funding for factories in her auto-focused state to produce electric vehicles, Reuters notes.
What we’re watching: Whether Granholm can help persuade congressional Republicans to back Biden’s call to greatly boost funding for clean tech research and development and commercialization programs.
Go deeper: Biden ushers in historical turn on clean energy and climate change
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.