Buttigieg latest Biden official to push green transition as gas prices soar
Buttigieg had previously said that Americans who move to electric cars will see savings on gas
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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the latest Biden administration official to push for a green energy transition as gas prices across America soar.
Buttigieg turned heads on Friday when he continued to push for Americans to purchase a new, electric car as their wallets take a hit from skyrocketing gas prices.
The Transportation secretary said American citizens will still continue to feel the pressure of high fuel prices until the U.S. becomes a clean energy independent nation.
OIL PRICES SLIGHTLY DIP AFTER BIDEN ANNOUNCES LARGEST-EVER OIL RESERVE RELEASE
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks at the U.N. climate summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File / AP Newsroom)
"Even if all of the oil we use in the U.S.A. were made in the U.S.A., the price of it is still subject to powers and dynamics outside of the U.S.A.," Buttigieg said.
"Which means that until we achieve a form of energy independence that is based on clean energy created here at home, American citizens will still be vulnerable to wild price hikes like we are seeing right now," he continued.
Buttigieg had previously touted the administration’s push to create electric vehicle infrastructure while saying Americans who move to electric cars will see savings on gas.
The administration from the top-down has been pushing for a nationwide green transportation transition, with President Biden himself suggesting Americans buy electric vehicles to save on gas costs.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm – who was invested in an electric vehicle battery company for months after taking her job until she sold the shares – also said in May of last year that high gas prices would not be "affecting" Americans if they drove "an electric car."
The push for a green transition comes amid skyrocketing gas prices and rising inflation, as well as warnings against transitioning too quickly to a clean energy economy.
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Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, previously warned that transitioning too quickly "risks destabilizing a global energy-food-water-human well-being nexus that, sufficiently perturbed, would likely delay energy transition efforts for decades."
Additionally, critics of the Biden administration’s push for Americans to buy electric vehicles have blasted the messaging as out of touch, as electric vehicles are expensive and could be hard to afford or even find for a large number of Americans.