#shorts On 5/3/2023, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, questioned the Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk. The official could not or would not provide clear answers.
Kennedy: “Give me your best estimate, just an estimate, of how soon you think the United States of America will be carbon neutral?”

Turk: “So, I think, according to the climate scientists around the world, and certainly the cutting-edge scientists that we need to rely on here in the U.S., we’ve got to get carbon neutral by 2050, and I’m very comfortable with that target, and I think that’s the appropriate target—”

Kennedy: “By 2050?”
Turk: “Which is only 27 years. That is not a long time away.
Kennedy: “And, how much will that cost?”
Turk: “So, the cost that I focus on even more is all the costs that are going to happen if we don’t get our act together.”
Kennedy: “No—the total cost: How much will it cost to get us carbon neutral? How many trillions?
Turk: I don’t have the estimate or the numbers in front of me. I’ve seen a variety of different estimates, but it’s a large amount, fundamentally transforming our energy economy.
Kennedy: Tell me the estimate, tell me the estimates that you’ve seen.
Turk: I don’t have those numbers right on hand.
Kennedy: So, you’re advocating that we become carbon neutral, but you don’t know how much it’s going to cost?
Turk: So, there’s an awful lot of estimates out there. It depends on technology.
Kennedy: You’re the expert.

Q: How much will it cost to get us carbon neutral? How many trillions? You’re the expert