Harvey broke the record set by Hurricane Katrina, which cost $160 billion. The 10 most destructive hurricanes caused an estimated $442 billion in losses. Out of 27 extreme weather events in 2016, researchers for the American Meteorological Society have correlated 21 of them to human-caused climate change.
A 2018 Climate Change Assessment report for California estimated climate change:
"could soon cost us $200 million a year in increased energy bills to keep homes air conditioned, $3 billion from the effects of a long drought and $18 billion to replace buildings inundated by rising seas, just to cite a few projections. Not to mention the loss of life from killer heat waves, which could add more than 11,000 heat-related deaths a year by 2050 in California, and carry an estimated $50 billion annual price tag."
Impacts are seen throughout the United States. A report found that "since 2005, Virginia has lost $280 million in home values because of sea-level rise." A 2018 study found coastal properties in five Southeastern states have lost $7.4 billion in potential value since 2005. The 2017 Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report estimates the lost value of flooded structures and land at over $19 billion. Additionally, Hawaii's roadways, bridges and infrastructure will cost $15 billion to repair and replace. The National Flood Insurance Program is losing $1.4 billion annually largely due to claims in 284 coastal counties. The Congressional Budget Office finds the program is already $20.5 billion in the red even after the government forgave $16 billion in debt last fall.
These are just some of the many costs -- food, agriculture, fishing, oceans, storms, fires, droughts, heat, flooding and more are going to worsen significantly.
Climate change could be the cause of the next economic collapse due to the cost of climate damage, an insurance industry crisis, or stranded assets, as over-investing in carbon energy has caused a fragile carbon bubble.
The US Can Transform To A Climate Justice Economy Now
While there has been progress on clean energy, it is inadequate and sporadic compared to the urgent needs. We need dramatic escalation with clear goals -- keep fossil fuels in the ground, use agriculture and wetlands to sequester carbon, deploy renewable energy, build climate justice infrastructure and transition to a new economy based on sustainability, democracy and equity.
This week, the world's largest wind farm opened. It can power 590,000 homes in the UK. Another planned wind farm could provide the power for 2 million homes. The world is only scratching the surface of the potential of wind and solar.
We can no longer afford the old carbon energy economy. A new climate economy would add $26 trillion to the global economy by 2030, a conservative estimate. It willcreate 65 million new jobs and prevent 700,000 premature deaths. This transformation provides an opportunity to create the future we want based on economic, racial and environmental justice.
Just as we are underestimating the high costs of climate change, we have also "grossly underestimated the benefits and opportunities unlocked by smart, connected, distributed energy technologies," David Roberts writes in Vox. We will look back after the transition and wonder why we waited as we will see "the benefit of quieter, safer, more livable cities and better respiratory health, we'll wonder why we ever put up with anything else -- why we nickel-and-dimed the transition to electric buses, long-haul trucks, and passenger vehicles; why we fought over every bike lane and rail line." We can also implement Solutionary Rail -- a network of electrified railroads that also serves as an energy grid serving rural areas and relieving roads of trucks.
The 2018 New Climate Economy Report reports time is running out; extreme damage from climate change is being locked in. We need a sustainable trajectory by 2030. The developing world needs infrastructure and much of the developed world's infrastructure is failing. The report finds, "The world is expected to spend about US$90 trillion on infrastructure in the period up to 2030, more than the entire current stock today. Much of this investment will be programmed in the next few years." We need to spend this on creating a new sustainable economy.
Adele Peters quotes Helen Mountford, lead author of the Global Commission project, "If we get that infrastructure right, we're going to put ourselves on the right path. If we get it wrong, we'll be very much stuck on that wrong pathway."
The report examined five areas: cities, energy, food and land use, water, and industry. Building sustainable, efficient, clean energy infrastructure will reduce health costs, and increase productivity and innovation. This requires policy based on equity, cutting fossil fuel subsidies while increasing the price of carbon, and investing in sustainable infrastructure.
The good news is we have the ability and technology to make the transition. We know what works. We lack the leadership, but this leadership void can be filled by the people. When we lead, the leaders will follow.
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