Unlike one of her predecessors, who had numerous connections to the Trump impeachment and its hinky relations with Russian oligarchs, Jennifer Granholm will combine clean energy policy and economic recovery.
Even without explicit support for the GND, this is a direction 180 degrees from the prior administration's kowtowing to fossil fuel industries and kleptocratic regimes based on such products.
Granholm, if confirmed by the Senate, would help Biden carry out his ambitious energy plan. The President-elect has proposed spending $2 trillion over four years on clean energy projects and ending carbon emissions from power plants by 2035. The plan would create union jobs in clean energy and through projects such as the construction of electric vehicle charging stations, updating electric grids, expanding broadband internet access and more.
As governor of Michigan, Granholm had worked closely with the auto industry, the dominant industry in the Great Lakes State, which could help Biden as he attempts to move the country toward electric vehicles.
During the 2008 financial crisis, Granholm found herself in the national spotlight as she pushed for an auto industry bailout. Biden and Granholm worked closely to implement the recovery act in those early years of the Obama administration. Biden often talks about this work to save auto jobs, many of which came from Michigan.
In addition to overseeing the nation's energy supply, the US Department of Energy is tasked with maintaining a safe and secure nuclear deterrent and reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation.
Generally speaking, the Biden cabinet does look diverse as well as leaning to the technocratic.