>> here's a look at our live coverage thursday. 10 :00 a.m. eastern on c-span, the senate banking committee holds a confirmation hearing for marcia fudge to be secretary of housing and urban development and cecilia rouse to head the white house council of economic advisors. on c-span2 the senate returns at 10:00 a.m. to consider nomination of homeland security secretary, and on c-span3 at 1045 a.m. eastern, house speaker nancy pelosi speaks to reporters about the legislative agenda. lesley clark discusses president biden's energy policy agenda now. let's begin with what is about to happen in 30 minutes, the nominee for energy secretary, jennifer granholm and discusses

, will get underway. guest: she is the former governor of michigan. she was governor when the economic crisis hit the state, hit the u.s. pretty badly, michigan in particular with the auto industry. she proved herself to be a champion of alternative green energy during that time and really pushed it in the auto industry as a way to get them out of tough times. and i think that she met then vice president joe biden when he was pushing the obama administration stimulus act at that time, so they have known each other. she has personal and work experience there. host: who might object to her nomination? guest: i think she will be confirmed. there will be objections. republicans have already made it clear that they have some objections to her, although i do not think they are insurmountable. the objections will be to the

larger biden agenda on energy, as well as a former governor and as a speaker at the doc, she was outspoken on her criticism over republicans, so i am sure we will hear about that as well. host: what is the timeline, when could she get a vote on the senate floor? guest: i guess it will depend on if they vote today. it seems like it is different in every committee hearing. but i would expect it to be soon. it's a giant agency. obviously, this administration wants to get going quickly. she also has the benefit of having a relationship with the incoming chairman of the senate energy and natural resources committee, senator joe mansion. he's also a former governor, so they share that. he has had nice things to say about her.

that will help her confirmation process. host: viewers can watch the confirmation hearing here on c-span. we will bring you to the senate hearing room at 9:30 a.m. eastern time. you can also watch and listen on our website, c-span.org, or listen with the free radio app. the biden administration has already taken several actions on energy, including rejoining the paris climate agreement, revoking a pipeline permit, and they are also looking at oil in a national refuge. can you just rejoin the paris climate agreement? guest: no, it takes time. just like getting out of it did. president trump signaled that the u.s. would get out of the paris accord in 2017, right after taking office, and it did not officially happen until

after the election. so, it will be a process working through it. president biden is also facing opposition from some summit republicans, who oppose the u.s. getting back into it. i think like every thing else in washington, it will be a process. host: what is the opposition to rejoining? guest: many republicans are opposed because they feel like the paris climate accord puts the u.s. at a disadvantage. that it expects too much of the u.s. to commit to climate goals, by allowing other countries do not do as much. and they are afraid that china and other big countries will get out free and fair. host: we are talking with a reporter for e&e news covering energy, lesley clark.

what has president biden done on the domestic energy sector in the united states? guest: the administration moved quickly. he promised during the campaign that he would ban new leases for oil and gas exploration on federal land. and they are going to be releasing a number of new environmental and energy regulations, like two hours after jennifer granholm goes for her confirmation hearing, so there will be even more stuff they are doing. they are looking to ban the leasing on federal land. they are talking about rejoining the paris climate accord. they are also wanting to set aside land for parks, more conservation land, by 2030. it's a host of stuff. host: let's talk about today's

actions, expecting to halt the leasing of a federal land and water. which industries would be impacted? guest: that is already a hot issue among the oil and gas industry, which wants -- if the administration moves to do that, they will restricted the ability to get natural gas. so republicans on the hill have already made it clear they will fight them on this one. host: can they fight an executive order? guest: they can make a lot of noise about it, and certainly the industry will, you know, could take it -- they could litigate it. host: we are talking about the energy agenda for president biden. let's show his goals. 100% clean energy economy with net zero emissions by 2050. d carbonized and the u.s. power

sector by 2035. -- decarbonizing the u.s. power sector by 2035. what are your questions? lesley, when you look at the goals, what would that entail? guest: it is an aggressive agenda. some have said it is probably the most climate change focused agenda any president has tried. they have already made it clear that this will be an across-the-board effort by the administration. you have janet yellen as the treasury secretary, sworn in yesterday, mentioning that she will set up a finance team and treasury to look at all of the decisions they make with an eye on climate. the commerce secretary yesterday , governor raimondo, saying she

considered it a national crisis and that she will look toward climate change is a major issue. one of the arguments among the critics, especially in oil and gas, is that you will bit thousands, hundreds of thousands of americans out of jobs. the administration says they see this -- you will hear it this morning and testimony -- is they see it as an opportunity for green jobs, for different jobs in the solar industry and wind industry, and electric vehicles. bottom line, it is a huge effort to be able to do that. it will probably take a lot of money, as well. biden has proposed, i think, you $2 trillion plan for green energy. that's everything from adding electric vehicle charging stations to better making sure that our homes are not losing energy, that appliances are

up-to-date and delivering a lot of -- that they are delivering a good deal on electricity, as well as on conservation. host: we will have live coverage right here on c-span of that testimony, coming up in 20 minutes. let's hear from johnny in st. petersburg, florida, a republican. good morning. caller: thank you for taking michael. -- taking my call. can you hear me? host: yes. caller: i think the energy initiatives are a good idea, but the problems are bigger than energy initiatives in our country. i think those initiatives will happen whether we do anything about them or not. and we will probably wind up being the world leaders in that industry, like we are in so many other industries. host: what industries specifically would do well on

their own? caller: one i think would do well on their own, the way things are going now, i think that the cybersecurity, firearms, defense, things along that nature. we are probably heading that w ay. host: let me go to tim in arkansas, an independent. caller: good morning. thanks for your show. to c-span, congratulations for -- this is the first time i have been able to call, congratulations for getting your guy elected, nice work. a unifier and chief, two hours in, canceling the pipeline. the pipeline brought oil here without having to run it on trucks or run it on locomotive trains. it was the cleanest way to get it here, but he shut it down. apparently, everybody -- he

wants everybody to be like california. california cannot even keep their power on. they want to manufacture electric vehicles, but they cannot supply electricity now. so the price of gasoline is going up. guess what? it's going up. i think that your previous guest , saying manufacturing, 10% across-the-board. if we cut own throats, only china is going to win. host: thank you for your comments. guest: the caller brings up an interesting point. that is something the biden administration is grappling with, the idea of the competition with china that you mentioned. that plays into the energy industry. what they have said, and what researchers have noted, is china is doing leaps and bounds,

particularly on soil and -- on solar. people see it as a wave of the future. and so part of it is competition, it is global competition. and the u.s. has -- there are 17 national labs where they have spent money on doing a lot of research, and to not to it would set us back on the global stage beard host: his comments -- stage. host: his comments about the pipeline, that they were going to use it to bring gas and oil across the country, but now what happens with the cancellation? and the impact on jobs. guest: i will address the jobs. there have been numbers thrown around on the impact of jobs. the other day, i think the number was 11,000. there are a lot of construction jobs. it's actually completely not

built yet, so i think they are talking about construction jobs, the estimate around 4000 over the lifetime of the pipeline. so, you would need to maintain it with about 50 jobs. so the jobs numbers have been overstated a lot. the idea of it coming down on trucks and things, the idea is to move away from those fossil fuels and to alternative energy and alternative forms of energy. host: what has the administration said about why cancel it now if it is almost built? guest: well, they do not want to do more fossil fuels, the building of a fossil fuels. that was another campaign promise from joe biden, that the u.s. must turn away from fossil fuels and embrace green energy, a green energy future. host: a caller in wyoming, an

independent. caller: good morning. does the administration plan to incentivize auto manufacturers to produce self charging electric vehicles, like those produced in munich, germany? guest: that is a terrific question. one of the big ideas, or one of the big efforts that jennifer granholm, it will be at a confirmation hearing today, the department of energy oversees a huge loan program that has about $40 billion in it, and it's offered to places to do groundbreaking, sometimes entrepreneurial research and development on things like solar, cars, or electric vehicles. and it got a lot of bad rap, if

you remember in the obama administration, for backing risky propositions, including one that went bankrupt. and the obama administration had to do hearings on that. but it also gave a big loan to tesla, which everybody is a pretty familiar with now. they have been pretty successful as a company, an electric vehicle company. that will be interesting to see what they do with that program. and with that money. that's what it is set up for, to offer loans to riskier businesses that might just need government help to get started, then they pay at that, like tesla did. host: stephen in fort lauderdale. a democratic caller. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that as a democrat and someone who considers himself in the resistance, that i think most democrats thought joe biden was

the best alternative to trump. in reality, joe biden has been a breath of fresh air and honest with the american people. we love him dearly. host: on energy? caller: -- all the horrible things that donald trump did. host: i will move on. lewis? what do you do? caller: i grow a special treat. i want to talk about energy. food is energy. we have a big problem coming, not just in the u.s., but the whole world. and it's fertilizer. there is a component, cyanide. the middle number, the first number is nitrogen, the second number is a phosphate or phosphorus, and the third number is pot ash. that middle number is a problem. we can deal with the first number.

you can deal with the third number. but the middle number is a problem. host: what is your point, lewis? caller: well, across the sunbelt we can't grow corn and soybeans, which are our biggest proteins, without -- systems. because the jet stream moves north. -- in the summer. and these trees, they are called swamp white oaks, the same tree planted at the 9/11 memorial. host: what do you want the government to do about this? caller: i want them to take a look at it. guest: he brings up an

interesting point. i'm not sure this is the same point. a lot of the fear of climate change is the changing climate is making it inhospitable for different tree species to live where they have been. you will see them migrating, like you will see people migrating, because of the rising waters on the shores and so different tree species are moving, different birds to find places and they are better able to live. so that is one thing that tackling climate change seeks to address. host: a republican caller in delaware. caller: i think a committee should be appointed to go to the oil builds and talked to the people doing the work, who have done the work, and it should be brought back. i think that with the trucks

on the roads, the railroads, it is not good. there are a lot of accidents. i think that there should be a committee to draw a line and get all these things being changed looked at before they cancel the amount. but thank you. host: ok. guest: keystone in particular, the pipeline, has been under review -- i mean, the obama administration put the brakes on it -- i do not even remember the year, but they first put the brakes on it and it was under review for quite some time, for several years. the state department did a review on it. then they trump administration gave it the go-ahead. and now joe biden has put the brakes on it again. this will not be the last of it. host: rick in texas. caller: i was calling -- i've

been in the energy business for 25 years. and anybody who thinks the paris peace accord is a good deal, has not read it. i wonder if this lady has read it. also, i have done a lot of wind and solar projects. and they have never been profitable. right now, it takes billions of kilowatt hours to run our good. we are number two in the world and wind energy and all it produces is 50.4 billion kilowatt hours. solar is a joke. it produces 14.4 billion kilowatt hours. and we are number four in the world in that. so, we do not have the battery capability. but when they do the battery capability, it will devastate the third world because they put women and children to work to

get the batteries in third world countries. now they are talking about going into the oceans to get the nodules. it will be an environmental nightmare, too. it is a good alternative energy, but there is no way it will run the electrical grid. it's impossible. it's make-believe. host: can i have our guests respond? guest: he brings up excellent points and illustrates how difficult it will be. i do not think anyone thinks it will be easy. biden has a $2 trillion plan, i do not know what that means for taxes, but obviously they think it means a lot of money to get this effort off to the races. and you also bring up an excellent point on critical minerals. critical minerals will be necessary and battery storage. the battery storage they make.

the department of looking at that, ways to take various byproducts from other processes and use them or mine them for critical minerals. you bring up excellent points. it's a giant situation. host: john in new jersey, democratic caller. caller: lesley, what i -- host: good morning. go ahead. caller: ok, i have been learning the last couple weeks about the hydro motor. that we will do away with the electrical combustion engine. and they will show the world how it works, everything runs on it, trains, airplanes, trucks, and i heard they will showcase it in tokyo over the summer. there will not be a need for oil after that.

they are going to retool a factory in michigan and get americans back working with these hydro vehicles. and it will be unbelievable. and you can make it out of hemp nowadays. the only thing i can think of you need oil for is asphalt on the road. host: go ahead. guest: he brings up another really interesting research area and new development place and they are going into, hydro. i'm sorry i am not as familiar with it as i should be, but it is definitely an area the energy world is focused on. there's also nuclear, we haven't talked about that. i think two thirds of the department of energy's budget is on the nuclear cleanup side, but there is also nuclear energy.

host: we are talking with lesley clark about the biden administration's energy agenda. his nominee for the energy department will be leading that, that is the former michigan governor, jennifer granholm. she will be testifying before the energy and natural resources committee in a few minutes . will have live coverage of that. it will be on c-span.org or download the free c-span radio app. leading the committee is democrat joe mansion from west virginia, and lisa markowski, the republican of alaska. sandra in ohio, go head. you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a question. all this talking about the

electric car. and putting up these things for people to plug into, but when you run on electric, you have to go to gas. what's gas made from? how are they going to do this so quickly? he should have waited until the country was back on their feet with jobs, when people were back to where they were before this happened. then think about the pipeline. that way, those people were prepared. he did it right out the first day. he wasn't in office two hours and he stopped 1000 jobs. i do not understand. give me an answer, please. you ladies have a lovely day. guest: well, i can answer what the biden administration expects -- the push for green energy jobs, that the push for green

energy will result in jobs. he said millions of jobs on the campaign trail. they expect them to be in solar, wind, and in hydro, as we mentioned . that is there push, that it is -- their push, that is an economic opportunity. that if you invest in something like tesla, which was a startup company that turned into a behemoth. and as we mentioned on the keystone, that was construction jobs, that they probably would've resulted in 4000 jobs, 50 over the long haul. so they make the argument that better jobs are in green energy. i must say that the market is agreeing with them more and more. they have a lot of support with a lot of companies going away from investing in fossil fuels. host: on the website for e&e,

"republican opposition grows more vocal." explain. guest: it's about the proposed leader for the -- of interior. the administration is looking to ban drilling on federal lands. that would go to the interior department. so, the biden administration is pushing this, but that is bringing opposition to her. host: she would be the first native american to hold the post. an independent from maryland. caller: hello. it's been a while. please give me the time to say what i want to say. host: we are listening. caller: i would like president obama -- biden to ban uranium

and clean up the uranium left from grand canyon to mount taylor, from arizona to new mexico, on the navajo reservation. my people, so many of them have cancer, even -- they are even finding traces of uranium. we want that land. how long are you going to take uranium out of there and ruin our land and our water? host: i have to get a response because the hearing is about to get underway. go ahead, lesley clark. guest: environmental justice is another plank of the administration. they want to spend more time looking at communities that have

been unfairly affected by developmental oil and gas resources, and other disruptive industries. host: i want to read this text from a viewer. dana in los angeles wants to know, what experience the former governor has managing any energy company? guest: i do not think she -- she owns stock in energy companies, but i do not think that she has any private company experience in running an energy company, her experience is in the government's fear. -- sphere. host: what has she said about alternative energy? guest: she said in a republican -- she said it several years ago that we need to turn away from

fossil fuels as soon as possible. host: you expect that line of questioning today? guest: i do. i expect them to push around that. and like the callers said, on the cost and on how can you turn the economy away from fossil fuels to an economy based on green energy. host: who will you be watching in the confirmation hearing? guest: we will be watching the former governor very closely, so he feels a kinship with the governor. so he has not on board with everything the biden administration wants to do on green energy. environmentalists were very disappointed that he will become the chairman of the committee, because wanted to see somebody -- they wanted to see somebody who is more of an environmental champion. he's a senator from west

virginia, which has a healthy history of coal mining. and he believes in taking care of his estate. so that will be a big issue for him. as well as the ranking member is a republican from wyoming. that is another large coal state. i'm sure he will be inquisitive about the plans of for green energy. and the cost, you know, the price tag. the biden administration is pushing for a big covid relief package. and there are thoughts that depending on where that goes, or how that goes, the green energy push will be in a future stimulus, perhaps an infrastructure bill. host: who else is on the committee worth noting and watching today? guest: i think what is really interesting, if you watch the committee, the department of

energy has a 17 national laboratories, so he will probably hear her promise to visit at least 17 states, because everybody has an interest. we did not mention the one big program at the department of energy, it's the nuclear waste pickup. or nuclear waste cleanup. the department is responsible for the cold war legacy of nuclear war weapons. that's a huge issue. the nevada senators will be interested in that, hearing what she has to say about how do we store nuclear waste. i can assure you every senator will have some energy interests and maybe even a facility in their state they will want her to see and talk about. host: greg in pittsburgh, a democratic caller. caller: good morning. my question is how much has joe biden proposed for retraining these people?

in western pennsylvania, we lost steel mills, west virginia with the coal miners -- how much have they put in their plan to retrain workers? host: quick answer. guest: that is a great question. i did not have a dollar figure, but they are working with a lot of the unions and he has union people in the administration, who jobs will be that very thing, jobs for energy workers and figuring out the transition. host: lesley clark is a reporter members.ne

this runs one hour. >> ok. thank you, everyone, for joining us today. i am the white house covid coordinator. i have the privilege of being joined by four of america's leading doctors and health experts today to conduct our first covid-19 briefing. i will keep my comments very brief. yesterday, we met with governors and other local leaders to update them on our progress an