Meghan McCain pressed Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over comments from both President Joe Biden and Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, calling them “tone deaf.”
McCain asked Granholm whether the Biden administration was sending the right message to people who worried that new energy policies would take away their ability to make a living. (RELATED: ‘Are You Or Are You Not Detaining Children?’: Meghan McCain Presses Jen Psaki On Migrant Detention Facilities)
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“Secretary Granholm, I thought President Biden was a little tone deaf when he told coal miners who will lose their jobs to simply, quote, ‘learn to code,'” McCain began. “John Kerry made a similar comment saying miners could pivot to building solar panels. These just aren’t options for most workers, and these employment retraining programs have a really poor record of leading to actual jobs.”
McCain then asked what Granholm would say to those who felt those comments were insulting and those who were concerned that their jobs might also end up on the Biden administration’s chopping block.
“Well, I mean, first of all, if they want to code, of course, that opportunity should be made available to them,” Granholm replied. “However, there are so many jobs in this clean energy space, Meghan, that have skills that are commensurate with the skills that they used in previous jobs.”
Granholm went on to argue that the “clean energy space” would ultimately create millions more jobs than the fossil fuel industry had, noting the need for miners to procure the “critical” raw materials needed for new types of batteries and touting the possibility of transitioning to geothermal electricity.