Fox News Digital quotes the director of a federal watchdog as saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm recently held a private meeting with the head of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the organization that financed recent research that was used to substantiate demands for a ban on gas stoves.
According to Granholm’s internal agency calendar, obtained by government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust, the former governor met with Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of RMI, in June 2021. (APT). Kortenhorst is a prominent figure in the fight against climate change throughout the world. He is the chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Net Zero Transition and the founder of the Energy Transitions Commission.
“Sort out the details. The purpose of the June 2021 gathering of American chemical, energy, transportation, and electrical industry chief executive officers wasn’t to discuss appliances so much as it was to rally support for the recently enacted $1T Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is responsible for the creation of thousands of JOBS in both red and blue states “an Energy Department (DOE) spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The meeting, which was held via Zoom and lasted for around an hour, was placed on Granholm’s calendar with only Kortenhorst as a participant and no agenda. RMI did not provide any feedback when contacted.
Despite APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland telling Fox News Digital that “claims about the Biden administration banning gas stoves are ‘crazy’ and “not accurate,” Secretary Granholm’s calendar reveals a different picture. We now know that she met with the secret-funding lobbying group that is trying to outlaw gas ranges.
Suffice it to say, suggestions that are “crazy” and “not real” don’t usually necessitate a meeting with the Secretary of Energy — because where there’s smoke, there’s fire, as Sutherland put it. “Everyone in the United States should insist that Granholm and the green energy radicals keep out of their bathrooms and refrigerators.”
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), established in Colorado, is a non-profit organization with the mission of hastening the worldwide transition to green energy by supporting initiatives like the electrification of whole economies. One member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission was quoted in a January 1 Bloomberg report, saying that a ban on gas stoves was “on the table” in light of the study’s findings.
Former governor Granholm tweeted her support for the study by RMI’s Talor Gruenwald and Brady Seals, urging Americans to replace their gas stoves with electric models.
We can and must FIX this,” Granholm tweeted on January 4 in response to a post by Seal containing the study’s findings. “More Americans will have access to cleaner cooking options like electric and induction stoves thanks to [President Joe] Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Saves time when cooking. aids in the reduction of household expenditures.”
The White House eventually stated that it would not support a ban on gas stoves after receiving tremendous criticism for first supporting the ban. Granholm said it was “crazy” to consider such a restriction.
This month, however, the DOE stoked the flames of controversy once again by proposing stringent efficiency requirements that would limit customers’ future purchases of gas stoves. As of the end of 2022, the Biden administration has taken over 110 separate acts related to this kind of energy efficiency regulations.
“One important aspect of this, of course, is making sure that we electrify and create efficiency inside the home environment,” Granholm said at the White House Electrification Summit in December. The time has come for us to join forces toward a shared goal of a future powered by sustainable energy.
Not only is RMI’s only headquarters outside the United States located in Beijing, China’s capital, but the organization has worked with the Chinese government to investigate the feasibility of making the switch away from traditional fossil fuels. The China Clean Transportation Partnership is an environmental organization with close links to the Chinese government, and RMI is one of its members.
Together with the National Development and Reform Commission of China in 2013, RMI developed a plan for “China’s Revolution in Energy Consumption and Production through 2050.” As a whole, the paper illustrated how the Chinese economy might switch to using renewable energy sources in place of its aging oil and gas infrastructure.
Wei Ding, a member of the RMI board of directors, formerly served as chairman of the China International Capital Corporation, a bank co-owned by the Chinese government.
Relationships between RMI and the Chinese government were initially exposed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Moreover, RMI has received millions of dollars in financing from the DOE, and its employees have attended DOE-sponsored meetings on environmentally friendly transportation and sustainability.
In March 2022, the DOE awarded RMI a grant of $4.4 million to showcase “an integrated retrofit package comprising envelope panels, a heat pump pod, and novel financing” in a building in Cambridge, Massachusetts.