In Pittsburgh to promote green energy, Secretary Granholm says Biden administration is on top of gasoline crisis
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to reopen a former Bethlehem Steel facility in Leetsdale that will create components for the solar energy industry.
After a panel discussion on green energy at the United Steelworkers Union headquarters, Granholm sat down for an exclusive interview with KDKA political editor Jon Delano.
Granholm was here to talk green energy of the future, but KDKA's Jon Delano focused directly on the fossil fuel that is still essential to drive our vehicles. She knows this region is an energy hub with both fossil fuels and a growing green energy economy, but it's the high price of gasoline that most people feel needs immediate attention.
Delano: Paying 5$ a gallon for gasoline is not acceptable. Is it acceptable to you?
Granholm: No, it is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to the president. Unfortunately, this is traded on a global market.
Granholm said the world supply of oil is not meeting world demand, which is why the president is going to Saudi Arabia in July to convince the Saudis and others to produce more oil.
"He's going to an energy conference with a number of nations. And to the extent that any of those nations are part of OPEC, he will be asking for an increase in supply," Granholm said.
Delano: Do you expect them to respond positively?
Granholm: I think some might. I think some might be more constrained.
But what about drilling for more oil here at home?
Delano: You sat down with producers here in America last week, but as far as I can see it didn't accomplish anything.
Granholm: We asked the refiners and the oil and gas industry to increase production, and they are doing this. Not the refiners because they have a limited amount of capacity, but the oil and gas industry has committed to increasing their supply by about 1 million barrels a day by the end of this year.
One million more barrels of oil a day would help, if it happens.
Another possible aid could be Tuesday's discussion at the G-7 in Europe to cap the price of Russian oil by those nations still buying it and funding Russia's war against Ukraine.
"What the president and other leaders are talking about is seeing whether those countries that are buying Russian oil would agree to not pay more than X amount, a cap on the price, which would reduce Putin's profit and it would put more supply on the market," Granholm said.
For all the talk about green energy, we are still a fossil fuel-dependent country. Oil and gasoline supply, demand, and pricing are complicated issues that Secretary Granholm insists she and the Biden administration are working hard to alleviate for American consumers.