Joe Biden is set to pick former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lead the U.S. Department of Energy and former EPA chief administrator Gina McCarthy as domestic climate czar, elevating two women with strong Democratic party credentials and records on combating climate change to play key roles in enacting the president-elect’s climate change policy agenda.
Granholm has deep roots in a state at the heart of the U.S. auto industry, having served as Michigan attorney general from 1999 to 2003 and as governor from 2003 to 2011. She worked with then-Vice President Biden on the Obama administration’s auto industry bailout plan and post-2008 recession stimulus package that boosted U.S. automakers‘ electric vehicle and battery technology development.