{"id":478644,"date":"2021-05-06T15:05:45","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T19:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=478644"},"modified":"2021-05-06T15:05:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T19:05:47","slug":"biden-champions-electric-vehicle-company-that-energy-sec-has-millions-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-champions-electric-vehicle-company-that-energy-sec-has-millions-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Champions Electric Vehicle Company That Energy Sec Has Millions In"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-champions-electric-vehicle-company-that-energy-sec-has-millions-in%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=478644&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1230818623.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>While President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris push their climate agenda, their effort to drum up support for electric vehicles has raised ethical questions vis-\u00e0-vis Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who holds millions of dollars in vested stock options in Proterra, the leading U.S. manufacturer of electric buses and the manufacturer of a myriad of products related to electric vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>On April 20, Biden took a virtual tour of Proterra, where Granholm had served on the board. He told Proterra\u2019s CEO, Jack Allen, \u201cChairman, let me say something quickly to you. The fact is you\u2019re making me look good. I used to have a friend that said it\u2019s always great to do well and do good \u2014 you\u2019re doing both pal. You really are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the hundreds of electric vehicle-related companies in the United States, Harris also toured a partner of Proterra, and the Proterra\u2019s CEO Jack Allen later took part in a session at the administration\u2019s U.S. Climate summit,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/05\/06\/politics\/granholm-proterra-electric-car\/index.html\">CNN reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Macey, a professor of corporate law, securities law and finance at the Yale Law School, said of the value of Biden\u2019s visit, \u201cThat\u2019s like money in the bank.\u201d Proterra is scheduled to go public in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>Granholm claimed she \u201chad nothing to do with\u201d Biden\u2019s tour while pledging to divest her stock options, reiterating her promise from February, when she was confirmed as Energy Secretary.<\/p>\n<p>In late April, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.senate.gov\/2021\/4\/barrasso-requests-inspector-general-review-of-secretary-granholm-s-investments-in-electric-bus-company\">sent a letter<\/a> to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in which he wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"15\">\n<p><em>In connection with her nomination hearing, I asked Secretary Granholm the following question for the record: \u201cWith respect to your affiliation with and financial interest in Proterra Inc., please confirm in narrative form the practical limitations that the Committee can expect your ethics agreement to impose upon you, especially as those limitations may bear on DOE\u2019s programs that promote or otherwise impact or potentially impact electric transportation, including, for example, the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Program. \u2026 Should I infer, that you will recuse yourself as appropriate from matters involving electric transportation at least until such time as you divest your interests in Proterra?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Granholm had answered, \u201cIf confirmed, I will recuse myself from all particular matters that to my knowledge have a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of Proterra until I have completed the divestiture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barasso continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"11\">\n<p><em>I am concerned that activities Secretary Granholm may have been directly or indirectly engaged in within the Biden Administration to promote electric vehicles (including electric buses), batteries, and charging infrastructure may have violated general commitments she made during her nomination process and as she entered the Biden Administration \u201cto avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest;\u201d to \u201cavoid any actions creating the appearance of violating the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch;\u201d and to conduct \u201cdecision-making on the merits and exclusively in the public interest, without regard to private gain or personal benefit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cGiven that status, the up to $5 million in value of investment that Secretary Granholm continues to hold in Proterra, Inc. is positioned to increase in light of her personal and substantial involvement in an aggressive, wide-ranging and tireless public relations campaign to promote electric vehicles, batteries and charging infrastructure; her leadership in promoting President Biden\u2019s American Jobs Plan, including its proposal to spend $174 billion \u2018to win the EV market,&#8217;\u201d Barrasso wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecretary Granholm has acted in full accordance with the comprehensive ethical standards set by the Biden administration,\u201d an Energy Department spokesperson responded to CNN. \u201cShe is in the process of divesting all holdings in the company within the 180-day period permitted by her ethics agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CNN noted, \u201cGranholm soon stands to see a substantial payday as Proterra is scheduled to go public in the first half of 2021, according to a company statement. In her ethics agreement, the former governor pledged to divest her Proterra stock options \u201cas practicable but not later than 180 days after\u201d her February confirmation \u2014 a timeline that falls within the 180 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris push their climate agenda, their effort to drum up support for electric vehicles has raised ethical questions vis-\u00e0-vis Energy Secretary Jennifer &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277475,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1230818623.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Champions Electric Vehicle Company That Energy Sec Has Millions In","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-478644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1230818623.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Champions Electric Vehicle Company That Energy Sec Has Millions In","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}