Kennedy to Biden's Deputy Energy Secretary: 'Shame on You for Not Answering My Questions' on the Cost of Net Zero (May 3, 2023)

Sen. John Kennedy wanted one number from President Joe Biden’s deputy energy secretary: the price of carbon neutrality. “Give me; give me your best estimate, just an estimate, I know, of how soon you think the United States of America will be carbon neutral?” Kennedy asked at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on May 3, 2023, according to the official hearing record [1].

“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 have got to get carbon neutral by 2050,” Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk answered. “Which is only 27 years. That is not a long time away.” [1]

“And how much will that cost?” Kennedy asked. “So, the cost that I focus on even more, is all the costs that will happen if we don’t get our act together,” Turk said [1].

The video above shows the exchange on May 3, 2023. Quotes are from the official hearing record and the Federal Register [1][2].

”Tens of Trillions of Dollars”

Kennedy tried again. “No. The total cost. How much will it cost to get us carbon neutral?” [1]

“It is going to cost trillions of dollars, and it will cost tens of trillions of dollars if we don’t get our act together,” Turk said. “How many trillions?” Kennedy asked. “I don’t have the estimate or the numbers in front of me, I have seen a variety of different estimates, but it is a large amount,” Turk said [1].

”You Can’t Tell the American Taxpayer”

“So, you are advocating that we become carbon neutral, but you don’t know how much it is going to cost?” Kennedy asked [1].

“I know with a certainty, of all the experts I have spoken about, it is cheaper to get our act together, than it is to not get our act together on climate change,” Turk said [1].

“I know that. But you don’t have a cost? You want us to get there, but you can’t tell the American taxpayer how much it is going to cost? Is that your testimony?” Kennedy asked. “It is going to save us money,” Turk answered [1].

“Well, how do we know, if you don’t know how much it is going to cost?” Kennedy said [1].

”How Much Is That Going to Lower World Temperatures?”

Kennedy offered a figure. “How about $50 trillion; is that right?” “It is going to cost trillions of dollars; there is no doubt about it,” Turk said. “And it disappoints me that you are not willing to give the estimates. I hope you are not telling me you have no idea how much it is going to cost, that creates a whole new host of problems,” Kennedy replied [1].

“But if it costs $50 trillion, as some of your colleagues have testified, to become carbon neutral by 2050, and I am all for carbon neutrality, by the way; how much is that going to lower world temperatures?” Kennedy asked [1].

“So, every country around the world needs to get its act together. Our emissions are about 13 percent of global emissions right now,” Turk said [1].

“You don’t know, do you? You don’t know, do you?” Kennedy said. “You just want us to spend $50 trillion, and you don’t have the slightest idea whether it is going to reduce world temperatures.” [1]

“Now, I am all for carbon neutrality. But you are the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy, and you are advocating we spend trillions of dollars to seek carbon neutrality, and you can’t—and this isn’t your money, or my money, it is taxpayer money—and you can’t tell me how much it is going to lower world temperatures?” Kennedy said. “Or you won’t tell me? You know but you won’t?” [1]

“Shame on You”

“In my heart of hearts, there is no way the world gets its act together on climate change unless the U.S. leads,” Turk said [1].

Kennedy finished with time to spare. “I have still got a few seconds. I have got 22 seconds. I am going to use them a different way. Mr. Secretary, shame on you for not answering my questions,” he said [1].

He used the last seconds on plutonium pit production. Asked how plutonium pit production would get back on track, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Jill Hruby, said: “We are going to be late. We are trying to catch up.” [1]

By the Numbers

2050: Turk’s target year for carbon neutrality [1].
$50 trillion: the cost estimate Kennedy said Turk’s colleagues had given [1].
13%: the U.S. share of global emissions, per Turk [1].
22: seconds Kennedy had left when he said “shame on you” [1].

What Happened Next

Trump pulled out of Paris. On Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14162. It directs the U.N. ambassador to “immediately submit formal written notification of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.” [2]

The order says such agreements “steer American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people.” [2]

For Kennedy’s first try at the $50 trillion question, see HYGO News’ page on Feb. 15, 2023. For his inflation math the next day, see the page on May 4, 2023.