Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm held several discussions with China’s senior energy official shortly before the Biden administration declared its intention to utilize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in 2021 to address soaring gas prices.
Granholm’s previously undisclosed talks with China National Energy Administration Chairman Zhang Jianhua revealed in internal Energy Department calendars, obtained by Americans for Public Trust (APT) and shared with Fox News Digital, reveal that the Biden administration likely discussed its plans to release oil from the SPR with China before its public announcement.
According to the calendars, Granholm spoke in one-on-one conversations with Jianhua, who is a longstanding senior member of the Chinese Communist Party, on Nov. 19, 2021, and two days later on Nov. 21, 2021. Then, on Nov. 23, 2021, the White House announced the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the SPR, the largest release of its kind in U.S. history at the time.
If I did not know any better, I would swear the Bidens have an allegiance to China.
Energy Sec Granholm secretly consulted top CCP energy official before SPR releasehttps://t.co/xq8QMH3jxS
— Tired of being politically correct (@USBornNRaised) August 4, 2023
APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland said, “Secretary Granholm’s multiple closed-door meetings with a CCP-connected energy official raise serious questions about the level of Chinese influence on the Biden administration’s energy agenda.”
She continued, “Instead of focusing on creating real energy independence for America, Granholm has been too busy parroting Chinese energy propaganda and insisting ‘we can all learn from what China is doing.’ The public deserves to know the extent to which Chinese officials are attempting to infiltrate U.S. energy policy and security.”
The DOE issued a statement indicating that the meeting was generally aligned with the agency’s climate change mitigation efforts. However, specific details of the conversation were not disclosed.
Republican leaders have cautioned that China, in contrast to the U.S. oil releases, has been expanding its own reserves following Biden and Granholm’s November 2021 announcement.
They contend that the SPR releases have undermined U.S. national security and provided foreign adversaries with heightened “geopolitical leverage.”
Furthermore, the White House and Department of Energy have faced significant backlash for permitting SPR sales to be directed toward Chinese state-controlled energy firms.
In response, the White House countered in July 2022, asserting that its options were limited as it is mandated by law to sell SPR oil to the highest bidder.
In his efforts to counter soaring fuel prices affecting American consumers, President Biden directed the Department of Energy to release approximately 260 million barrels of oil stored in the SPR since assuming office.
