Jennifer Granholm has been sworn in as the 16th US Secretary of Energy, having been confirmed by the Senate.
She is the second woman to lead the Department of Energy (DoE) and will help the US achieve President Joe Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
DoE said Granholm will also oversee its core missions of promoting US leadership in scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent and reducing nuclear danger, and remediating the environmental harms caused by legacy defence programmes.
Granholm has previously been governor of the US state of Michigan, serving two terms from 2003 to 2011.
She was also the first woman elected Attorney General of Michigan and served as the state’s top law enforcement officer from 1998 to 2002.
After the two terms as governor, Granholm joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the Goldman School of Public Policy.
She focused on the intersection of law, clean energy, manufacturing, policy, and industry.
She also served as an advisor to the Clean Energy Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts.