BREAKING NEWS: John Kennedy Presses Jennifer Granholm About Whether She Trusts Putin & Xi On Climate

4 months ago

At today's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm about attempts to achieve carbon neutrality.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you Madam Chair. Secretary Granholm, do you believe that the world can

00:07 achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 without nuclear energy playing a

00:12 substantial, substantial role? I do not. Okay. I agree with you. I want to go back

00:22 to my thesis that I hope I articulated it reasonably well, but we

00:28 we don't have an overarching plan or analysis for achieving CO2. In my opinion

00:35 we're just throwing money at it. Let's suppose Professor Lundberg is right.

00:39 27 trillion a year. That's worldwide to achieve carbon neutrality and maintain

00:46 it through 2100. Let's assume America's share, we produce 15% CO2 emissions, that

00:54 makes our share about four trillion dollars a year. That's, I don't know, eight

01:02 to ten percent of our GDP. Doesn't sound like much when you talk about it that

01:07 way, but it's still four trillion dollars a year. Every year. That's money we can't

01:14 spend on health care or feeding people, housing. What happens if we start

01:24 spending four trillion dollars a year each year for every year through just

01:29 2050 and China doesn't do its part or Russia doesn't do its part or India

01:40 doesn't do its part or Vietnam or Thailand? How much is our money going to

01:47 reduce world temperatures or the increase in world temperatures? The

01:54 answer is zero, isn't it? No, I don't think it's zero, but I do know that this is why

01:59 we have... How much is it? This is why we have all 190 countries signed on to get

02:07 to net zero by 2050. I know they've signed on, excuse me. And countries are

02:11 moving in that direction. But they're not doing, I'm asking you, and I hope they do

02:16 it, okay? If it turns out that the scientists are right. I'm not saying they

02:21 are, they aren't. It's just that the whole topic has become so politicized. But we

02:27 don't have, we never talk about what happens if they don't and what is the

02:33 likelihood that they will. And let me ask you again, if we spend four trillion a

02:40 year every year until 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality in the United States

02:48 and President Putin and President Xi and Prime Minister Modi say, "I don't think so.

02:57 I think I'm gonna spend that on my own domestic needs in my countries." How much

03:04 are we going to reduce world temperatures? With respect, I'm not going

03:07 to buy into the hypothetical because they have said, I don't know about Putin,

03:11 but the President of China and Prime Minister Modi have all made commitments

03:18 to move in this direction and are spending money to move in this direction.

03:21 But the better question is, or a parallel question would be, what happens if we

03:26 don't? Well I'm interested in my question though. You're good, but I

03:31 don't want you to change the subject. Have you ever known President Xi to lie?

03:35 Well I'm not, I am telling you what he says on the plan and what we have seen in

03:41 terms of their spending. They have spent about four hundred billion dollars a

03:46 year so far, that was I think in 2023, on renewable energy. What about Russia?

03:52 They're spending. Russia I don't have the information on.

03:56 They're not very transparent, but all of these countries have signed on to the

04:00 goal. And my point is, if we don't sir, if we don't, we will be spending globally

04:06 38 trillion dollars a year to clean up after the extreme weather events that

04:12 are happening because of climate change. But you use that figure, but I've seen no

04:16 basis for it. Professor... I can send you that. Professor Lomberg

04:21 says it's much less than that. But here's my point. Do we just start spending

04:27 the four trillion a year and spend it blindly every year like clockwork? Or

04:33 it's at what point if China's not pulling its load, or Russia, or Vietnam, or

04:38 Sub-Saharan Africa, at what point do we say, what model do we have in place

04:44 to say, whoa wait a minute, we're wasting our money because they're not spending

04:48 theirs? I believe that the United States and its leadership in this world, as well

04:55 as our allies, are not going to throw in the towel. That this is too important in

05:00 terms of our world, in terms of climate change going into the future, and the

05:04 devastating impact it is having right now, much less in 2050. I'm out of time, but do you

05:08 trust, look me in the eye, do you trust Vladimir Putin? No.

05:15 Or President Xi Jinping to do anything other than what is in their

05:23 best political interest and the power that they achieve in the world? Do you

05:27 really believe that? And in China's interest, it is in their interest to move

05:32 down this path because they are experiencing extreme heat waves and

05:35 death as a result of climate change. And this is why they're spending what they

05:40 are, and this is why they want to dominate these clean energy technologies.

05:43 Because they see an economic advantage for them to be leading in this. So no, I

05:48 don't trust what they say, but we will verify. But you're willing... well I've

05:55 gone over, I'm sorry Madam Chair. Thank you Madam Secretary, thank you Madam

05:58 Secretary. I'll try to come back. Thank you. Senator Shaheen.

BREAKING NEWS: John Kennedy Presses Jennifer Granholm About Whether She Trusts Putin & Xi On Climate

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