While the world’s leaders, including President Biden gathered this week in Glasgow, Scotland for their climate summit, back in the states, Wyoming U.S. Senator John Barrasso had some pointed questions.
He wanted to know how many White House and Biden administration staffers were on hand for the2-week 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the carbon footprint they were leaving and what it was costing American taxpayers. He sent letters to several cabinet members and agency leaders demanding answers.
In his letter, the Republican Senator noted that Time magazine reported the COP26 would be the “most expensive COP on record.”
Barrasso sent the letters to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Rick Spinrad.
In his letter to Energy Secretary Granholm, the Senator wrote, “In addition to the staggering cost of the conference, I am concerned that what appears to be a bloated US delegation will prove counterproductive to the COP’s mission. The conference is intended to “accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.” However, these commitments strike a tone of insincerity as a majority of COP26 delegates will have contributed a significant amount of carbon emissions to attend COP26.”
He had several questions for her:
Questions:
1. How many individuals from DOE are attending COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland?
a. Please provide a complete and full list of those attending.
2. How much money has DOE spent in order to send employees to COP26 including expenditures for travel, lodging, food and beverages, emission offset measures, and lost work productivity?
3. Of DOE officials attending, which attendees have worked from home more than 50 percent of their total hours worked since March 2020?
4. What is DOE’s total carbon footprint (CO2e) as a result of COP26 travel?
5. Has DOE made any effort to offset its carbon emissions resulting from its COP26 travel? If so, what is the total cost of these offset measures?
Read the full letters here.
