Lomborg's article in Public Servant

President Trump recently hosted “Technology Week” at the White House, focusing on “modernizing government technology and stimulating the technology sector.”

Behind this string of photo-ops is the unfortunate reality that Trump’s 2018 budget request has proposed the steepest funding cuts for federal research and development in US history.

The proposed budget would reduce funding for the Agricultural Research Service in the Department of Agriculture by 26 percent, which would lead to the closure of 17 research centers.

Trying to showcase climate leadership at the U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, President Joe Biden is reaffirming his goal of creating “a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.” But that target will be prohibitively expensive. A new Nature study shows that a 95 percent reduction by 2050 — almost within reach of Biden’s net-zero — would cost 11.9 percent of GDP or more than $11,000 for each American every year.

Lomborg's thoughts appear in the article Cash-strapped families face £1,000-a-year bill to help Government beat climate change (as if we didn't have enough problems); on the UK Government's decision to set a 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050.

The Government's climate change committee estimates this will cost 1-2 % of the GDP. At current values this is £24 billion  -  or £1,200 per household.