Louisiana is an innovative energy center, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during her visit to New Orleans last month.
Granholm spent parts of her May 24 visit to the The Big Easy, accompanied by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, other state and local officials, neighborhood leaders and climate advocates, discussing environmental justice and visiting area energy centers, according to coverage that same day by Fox 8.
"Louisiana is an amazing place to be able to lead in the manufacture and employment of offshore wind technology," Granholm said in Fox 8's news story.
Granholm visited the strategic petroleum reserve outside of Baton Rouge and NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility for a tour of General Electric's wind turbine blade research and development facility.
Granholm also referenced incentivizing the wind power industry to meet the nation's energy needs and create jobs.
"If we have learned anything from [Vladimir] Putin's invasion and the volatility of the fossil fuel markets we do want to transition to clean homegrown American energy to be energy secure and to rely on technologies are prices that continue to go down instead of being volatile," she said.
Granholm's visit came hours after she announced opening strategic petroleum reserves in Texas and Louisiana to stabilize record-high gas prices.
"We want to increase supply to bring prices down and stabilize supply and demand," she said. "It is the one tool that we have right now."
She also took issue with some critics in the oil industry who argue President Joe Biden's administration's policies restricting leasing are part of what is keeping oil prices high.
"That's absolutely false," Granholm said. "Oil is traded globally. We do want to see a movement to electrification of transportation but we know many people aren't in a position to buy electric vehicles today."
Granholm also referred to the Biden administration's support for a $10,000 tax credit per electric car in an effort to make them more affordable.
Granholm also was accompanied by U.S. House Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), who took the opportunity to talk up House Resolution 6967, the Chance to Compete Act, bipartisan legislation introduced in the House in March. The Compete Act, currently in the House Oversight and Reform Committee, seeks to implement merit-based reforms in civil service hiring by replacing degree-based hiring with skills- and competency-based hiring.
"This is a classic example of American workers doing what's good for America and the Compete Act helps get back to American manufacturing," Carter said during Granholm's visit.
In a statement issued the following day, Cantrell said Granholm's visit "underscores [New Orleans] as uniquely positioned to lead the way on energy transition and green hydrogen production."
"New Orleans is home to companies that are blazing the trail for world-class technology such as critical battery manufacturing and supply chain capacity for electric vehicles, offshore wind and our many emerging renewable energy needs," Cantrell said. She also referred to "the very footprint of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility" as part of the "incredible opportunities" to scale production in New Orleans.
"These initiatives are essential as we work toward hardening our electrical grid and building back better as a more resilient city," Cantrell said. "We will continue to partner with our federal partners and leaders, such as Secretary Granholm and Congressman Carter, to transform our most vulnerable communities, while also achieving our climate and environmental justice goals across the nation."
