Although rising gasoline and heating oil prices are no laughing matter for most Americans, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently laughed when asked about them.
Thomas Keene, a host on BloombergTV, asked the former Democrat Michigan governor, “What is the Granholm plan to increase oil production in America?” Before he could finish his question, the Michigander closed her eyes and began nervously laughing before leaning backward in her chair with a smile.
“Oh my, that is hilarious,” she replied, before going on to blame “the OPEC cartel” for what have been repeated denials of Biden’s requests to increase oil production in the Middle East. “Oil is a global market, it is controlled by a cartel — that cartel is called OPEC.”
Granholm is currently considering shutting down another major pipeline that delivers fuel across Wisconsin and Michigan into the Midwest and Canada.
Fox News host Sean Hannity joined dozens of others who disputed the secretary’s assertion, noting that until President Biden reversed Donald Trump’s energy policies, including canceling the Keystone XL pipeline on January 20, the United States did not have to be at the whim of Mideast oil barons.
“What is funny about that?” he asked. “We were energy independent. Instead of begging OPEC and getting rejected for the nth time, we can produce more oil, more gas right here in America. It creates high paying career jobs in the energy sector. It reduces shipping costs.”
Hannity later noted that the fact Appalachian states such as Pennsylvania and West Virginia have such high capacity for exploration and rely on the industry for a good portion of their jobs itself also is playing a big role in the congressional stalemate over Biden’s “socialist” Build Back Better plan.
The host later played video of Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.V., being accosted by protesters who followed him into a parking deck and blocked his car from exiting. Another clip showed the Mountain State lawmaker being harassed by protesters as he walked down an urban sidewalk. Hannity said West Virginia relies on the energy industry, and that Manchin is looking out for the interests of his constituents by further contemplating support for the package.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
