Are you paying $5 or more a gallon for gas when you fill up your car? One of the co-hosts of CBS Mornings on Wednesday wanted you to find the bright side, suggesting that such skyrocketing costs could be the “silver lining” that pushes us off oil. Talking to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, the host generally seemed perplexed by the high costs.
Granholm offered her own version of the upside of staggering gasoline costs, reminding, “We want to move to clean energy, and that's why the President and the bipartisan infrastructure law that was signed invested significant amount of money to move in that direction.”
This prompted co-host Tony Dokoupil to pounce, offering happy talk: “Do you see this as a silver lining then to the pain many Americans are feeling? It will accelerate the move you mentioned.”
Granholm was enough of a politician to know that going down that road is a bad idea. She retreated: “I don't think there's a silver lining. I don't think — pain does not have a silver lining. It is painful.”
The sad part is this isn’t even the worst example of CBS finding a left-wing “silver lining.” During the worst of COVID, CBS (and other networks) repeatedly hyped the environmental “silver lining” to a pandemic that has killed millions.
On March 19, 2020, CBS This Morning journalist Vladimir Duthiers first speculated about a “little bit of silver lining” to the pandemic. Citing a slight uptick in water clarity in Italy, Duthiers cheered, “This is Venice... You can never see the waters because they're so murky from all the boats. This time, now you can see the crystal-clear waters of the Venice canals.”
During the segment on Wednesday, the words “Joe Biden” were not used. Instead, Dokoupil flailed about, wondering who Americans should “be angry at right now.”
Tough time for the country. Tough time for the administration here because Americans are pumping gas. They're seeing the numbers go up and up and up. Simple question off the top — when they're frustrated seeing that price, where should they place their frustration? Who should Americans be angry at right now?
This type of talk from Dokoupil isn’t surprising. Back in 2020, he chased down mall patrons while using an actual pie, all in order to demonstrate income inequality.
The happy talk propaganda about skyrocketing gas prices was sponsored by Progressive insurance and Chevrolet. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS Mornings
6/15/2022
8:02
TONY DOKOUPIL: We've got some big news to get to, a big interview off the top. It regards a topic on a lot of people’s minds. The patience and lack thereof with the record gas prices in this country. According to AAA, as of this morning we're at a record, more than $5 average price nationally. You’re looking at it on the screen, $5.01. Up nearly $2 from last year. It's having a major impact on people's lives. So that interview I mentioned, we're joined now by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Secretary Granholm, thank you for being here, and good morning to you. Tough time for the country. Tough time for the administration here because Americans are pumping gas. They're seeing the numbers go up and up and up. Simple question off the top — when they're frustrated seeing that price, where should they place their frustration? Who should Americans be angry at right now?
SECRETARY JENNIFER GRANHOLM: Well, they certainly should be angry at Vladimir Putin because Russia was the largest, and has been one of the largest exporters of oil. And when they invaded Ukraine, a number of countries like the United States, Canada, and others, have said we're not going to buy Russian oil. When that happens, that pulls millions of barrels off the
global market. And that creates the supply crunch that has caused the price of gasoline at the pump to go up $1.70 since the invasion of Ukraine. So that's number one. Number two, the president issued a letter today to refineries, to those who are doing refining, the oil and gas companies, to say “why can't we increase more supply? Not just increase supply of production of crude oil, but also increase supply of gasoline?” And unfortunately, about 80 percent of the lost refining capacity that came down during covid happened in 2020, and so the President's calling for the oil and gas companies to increase refining capacity, as well.DOKOUPIL: But Madam Secretary on, that second point regarding supply — this is confusing for people, me included — America has been the largest producer of oil in the world for many years now. Given that fact, why can't we in this country keep prices down?
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NATE BURLESON: Madam Secretary, so if the administration has already released millions of barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve but yet the prices are still at record highs, what other tools do we have? What can we do?
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BURLESON: That's the question. What else can we do?
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MICHELLE MILLER: Madam Secretary, at what point do these prices — what point do they become unsustainable? And two, ironically, does this push us closer to renewable energy?
GRANHOLM: Yeah. I think the prices are unsustainable for many people right now. Everyday citizens on fixed incomes paying huge amounts of money that they had not anticipated or budgeted for just to get to work. It's — it is unsustainable for many. And unfortunately there's not a quick fix. However, your point about also accelerating our progress toward clean energy is very, very important. We don't want to be under the thumb of Petro dictators, globally or in the United States. We don't want to be at the whim of the volatility of fossil fuels like we are right now. And so we want to move to clean energy, and that's why the President and the bipartisan infrastructure law that was signed invested significant amount of money to move in that direction.
DOKOUPIL: Do you see this as a silver lining then to the pain many Americans are feeling? It will accelerate the move you mentioned.
GRANHOLM: I don't think there's a silver lining. I don't think — pain does not have a silver lining. It is painful. But I do know that countries are accelerating toward clean energy. Europe has got a whole strategy about moving away from Russian fossil fuels and moving away from fossil fuels altogether. I think that's a good thing ultimately, but nobody wants to take any silver lining or any pleasure at all in what people are paying at the pump.
BURLESON: Secretary Granholm, thank you so much. We appreciate you.
