by WorldTribune Staff, August 10, 2023
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm consulted twice with her counterpart in the communist regime of China days prior to the Biden administration approving the largest release in history from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to documents obtained by Americans for Public Trust.
Granholm met with China National Energy Administration Chairman Zhang Jianhua just before Team Biden’s Nov. 23, 2021 announcement that it would release 50 million barrels from the SPR. The move was made as gas prices soared significantly at home due to Biden administration energy policies.
According to Energy Department calendars obtained by Americans for Public Trust, Granholm spoke with Zhang, who is a longtime member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on Nov. 19, 2021. They had another conversation two days later.
Americans for Public Trust Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News that the timing of the meetings raises questions about CCP influence on the U.S. federal government.
“Secretary Granholm’s multiple closed-door meetings with a CCP-connected energy official raise serious questions about the level of Chinese influence on the Biden administration’s energy agenda,” Sutherland said. “Instead of focusing on creating real energy independence for America, Granholm has been too busy parroting Chinese energy propaganda and insisting ‘we can all learn from what China is doing.’ The public deserves to know the extent to which Chinese officials are attempting to infiltrate U.S. energy policy and security.”
The Energy Department said in a statement to Fox News that the purpose of Granholm’s meetings with Zhang was to coordinate efforts for addressing climate change.
“Solving the climate crisis means engaging with competitors and allies in clear and substantive discussions — especially among the nations emitting the most carbon pollution into the atmosphere,” the statement said. “We must all address the transnational challenge of climate change to our planet.”
China has consistently rebuffed Team Biden’s climate change overtures.
As oil prices soared in 2021, Team Biden had assured the American public that it would not be the only nation tapping into its reserves. Rather, America would do so in conjunction with “other major energy consuming nations including China.”
The promise did not live up to reality. As Republicans on Capitol Hill have pointed out, rather than releasing its reserve oil, China has grown its reserves in the years since the White House’s 2021 announcement.
Republicans argue that the U.S. has weakened itself with the releases while gifting China “geopolitical leverage.”
Among the critics of the administration is House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Last year, Rogers and former GOP Rep. Fred Upton wrote a letter to Granholm in which they excoriated the executive branch for its energy policies.
“China ramped up its purchases of crude oil from Russia and the United States to boost its own reserves, even as oil prices surged” and Joe Biden “called for a coordinated release,” the letter said. “As a result, China may now control the world’s largest stockpile of oil, with total crude inventories estimated at 950 million barrels.”
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