Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s energy secretary nominee, doled out millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to alternative energy companies that eventually went bankrupt during her tenure as Michigan governor, reports The Daily Caller. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be charged with bringing Biden’s goal of building 550,000 electric vehicle charging stations and replacing the federal government’s fleet of vehicles with electric vehicles.
A company given a $9.1 million refundable tax credit by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority was headed by Richard Short, a man on parole for embezzlement. Short was sent back to prison after appearing on stage with Granholm in 2010.
The MEGA program also granted $10 million to A123 Systems in 2009. The electric car battery manufacturer filed for bankruptcy in 2012. The company is still in operation today.
Azure Dynamics, another manufacturer of electric vehicle components that received taxpayer-funded assistance from the same program, filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and laid off 120 employees.
“If her track record in Michigan was an audition for the Department of Energy, she certainly failed,” American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“She had a history of not doing due diligence, throwing money to try to force technological changes that weren’t ready for the marketplace,” Pyle said. “She basically saddled Michigan taxpayers with millions of dollars in a sort of transfer to startups and most of them were failures. Why would you put someone in charge of the pursestrings at the Department of Energy who has a track record like that?”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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