Secretary Granholm joins The View to talk tax credits, EVs and expanding America's charging network

[Music] welcome back our ABC News series The Power of us people climate and our future is kicking off just in time for next week's Earth Day and joining us now to weigh in on Hot Topics from rising temperatures and gas prices to how we can all do our part to save the planet please welcome US Secretary of Energy Jennifer grol thank you so much me so Madam Secretary thanks for joining us and as we're all gearing up to celebrate Earth Day from your perspective what is the single most important thing people watching watching this right now can do to fight climate change and reduce or lower our own carbon F okay so there's great news which is that because of the laws that were passed under President Biden he's really obsessed with climate he's also obsessed with lowering costs for people and the two can combine so one of the biggest things that you can do is to be able to weatherize your home and there are tax credits associated with doing that so for example if you want to install Windows that don't leak out the you know the heat in the in the winter and the cold in the summer you can get a tax credit for that you can get a tax credit for installing a heat pump instead if your HVAC goes out I mean you can get a 30% tax credit or up to $2,000 so that's one thing is weatherize your home and save money at the same time if you weatherize your home you can save about 30% on your energy boat great the second thing that people can consider is their transportation meaning if they switch over if you know if you're in the market for a new car and you decide you want to look at electric vehicles or Hy this is the time or hybrid hybrid electric you can get a $7500 tax credit at the dealer if the car is made in the United States so that's $7,500 off wow if you're driving that car I know some of you have electric vehicles in terms of the price at the gas pump it costs you right now on average to fill up an average tank is about 55 bucks yeah if you uh charge it it's for to go the same distance it's between $15 and $30 depending on the kind of charger use so I mean think about it you could be saving every time you fill up what if you live in the projects what if you don't have a home so this is super important so part of the president's agenda is to make sure that we have charging state everywhere where there are gaps and so there are gaps in in urban areas and so you know and in New York man who can find a place to park to begin with right people don't and people don't have garages Etc so the every state got money including New York to creatively find ways to charge so in New York for example it might be that if you need a charger you go to one of these areas where they have multiple chargers to charge up or they're looking at ways to like be able to pull down a charger from a street light right and and use that to charge car using you know charging St something with the road well that that is a little bit further down you are thinking ahead and you are as always but that's the way to do it when you're driving you're charging or America as well paron me it's good in Rural America Rural America too yeah in fact the president's goal is to get 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the country to take away the range anxiety that people feel of not being able to find a place to charge in addition to that the department of energy we are a science uh entity and we've got 17 National Labs and we're all focused on how do you extend the range of the vehicles so now when you buy an electric vehicle most electric vehicles go can go between 150 300 miles but they're working up to 500 miles so you need fewer times to charge uh you know if you're an Uber driver and you have to refill your gas tank all the time and you on average you go about 200 miles a day I mean that's a huge saving for folks anyway that's one of the ways you can reduce um your bills yeah and reduce your carbon pollution okay so while President Biden who cares about his grandchildren yes is working very hard on this as you just pointed out he has record climate Investments uh former uh president he can't even say it former Trump uh he says he would be a dictator on day one and drill drill drill you know he couldn't care less about his grandchildren and he spreads conspiracy theories that wind turbines are killing whales and causing cancer and it but it here's the problem that makes me nuts a new Washington Post poll shows that nearly half of Republicans now believe Trump that climate change is a hoax how much more evidence do these people need when they see what goes on with hurricanes Etc how do we convince these people to start believing the truth yeah totally Joy it is it's a version of fake news right um people are believing things that are not accurate we for anybody who cares about this we have a a section on our website at energy.gov called Malarkey Corner which debunks a lot of this stuff but the bottom line is you know people are seeing every day what's happening I mean every for the past 10 years it has been every year a record year of heat right and you're seeing it globally the costs of cleaning up after all these extreme weather events taxpayers are having to pay for that and people are starting to experience but you know here's my good news about this is that aren't you Professor positive I am because I'm seeing this happen across the you know we're all so cynical about politics Etc but but under you know the president had these bills that were passed and Lord knows policy actually works because what we are seeing is all of these factories being built Across America hiring young people in in red States in blue states to be able to build the means to reduce our climate uh pollution like whether they're solar panel factories or EV factories or battery factories for those EVS we've had you know I come from Michigan I was the former Governor of Michigan we saw so many jobs leave so much offshoring you know of jobs and communities that are devastated by a factory going somewhere else car factories exactly car factories but this is true in manufacturing all across because you know we have economic competitors like China who have a strategic plan to go and get and build up their manufacturing sector but what the president has done is said we're not going to do that anymore we are going to get manufacturing back in this country and this sector this clean energy sector is a huge opportunity for jobs for young people for old people for Rural folks for folks in communities that have been left behind since these bills have been passed just in the energy sector there have been 600 factories that have cropped up in pockets all across America to build these it's amazing the manufacturing sector is back jobs are back Stamp It Made in America use it here use it with American workers say I do ask about um you don't look convinced I I I I I am convinced but I I I do have questions because people are getting bills energy bills electric bills that are insane and I don't understand how you can tell because I watch these guys they come and they look at the little thing going around and then they read the number how do you know $300 is on there how do you know the Char yes good point well and more specifically I did want to ask Madam Secretary gas prices um they're somewhat On The Rise though they did go down significantly um we're seeing them rise a bit former white house chief of staff Ron Cay had encouraged the president to focus on pocketbook issues to voters what is the administration doing to lower those prices and should we be worried about the conflict in the Middle East contributing yeah we should and thank you for raising that because people may not be aware of course oil is where you get your gas from and it's traded on a global market and so if if there is uh a a conflict in you know the straight of Hormuz that blocks uh the flow of oil that impacts you what you pay at the pump if you know if Russia invades Ukraine that impacts what you pay at the pump but the bottom line is the the president is really focused on this and when Ukraine invaded when Russia invaded Ukraine he we have this big tool called the Strategic petroleum reserve and he released oil along with convincing our allies around the world to do the same so that we put more Supply on the market because what it was all these Russian barrels were pulled off the president is watching this he's obsessed with it and so we're going to be doing what we can as J when are you going to run for president oh my Lord what were you saying shouldn't gas shouldn't gas companies be better corporate citizens and lower the prices and start stop gouging the American people this is that I know the president is really called upon this and to increase Supply as as well this is uh I I know I know I know I we're getting we're getting the wind up thanks you guys Madam SE J come back come back again because this is really good for more information on her Department's new fuel savings calculator you can visit our website cuz we'll put you in mind of where to go and of course we'll be right back [Music]