On 11/25/2023, the Senate Committee on the Budget met to discuss the impacts of climate change on supply chains. Chaired by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the committee explored the potential vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains and even the merits of climate science and modeling itself.

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) put the witnesses through a thought exercise asking if they were king for a day, what three policies would they implement to curb climate change. Kennedy was not too pleased with their answers and was visibly frustrated when none of the witnesses would give them a clear answer on what it would cost to get to net zero emissions by 2050 in the United States. Only Dr. Rose suggested $200 billion, which other witnesses admitted seemed low. The difficulty with arriving at these numbers is that they must assume technology advances and costs over time, which like the climate models themselves, make many assumptions that are not always agreed upon.

Five witnesses testified at the hearing (click on their name to read their prepared testimony):

Dr. David Barker – Partner, Barker Companies
Ms. Kathy Fulton – Executive Director, American Logistic Aid Network
Dr. Scott Kelly – Head of Environmental Analytics
Mr. Robert McNally – President, Rapidan Energy Group
Dr. Adam Rose – Research Professor, Sol Price School of Public Policy, Senior Research Fellow Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Threats and Emergencies, University Of Southern California

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Frustrated Kennedy: what it would cost to net zero emissions by 2050? A: at most $200B, disagreed by others