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Climate change already costing government billions: GAO

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Invisible Fan, Oct 24, 2017.

  1. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    http://thehill.com/policy/energy-en...te-change-already-costing-government-billions

    The effects of climate change are already costing the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found.

    In a report released late Monday, the GAO tallied the total cost of disaster assistance and flood and crop insurance losses at $350 billion over the last decade, not including the most recent hurricanes and wildfires.

    But climate change-linked phenomena like droughts, wildfires, flooding and storms are projected to dramatically increase those costs in the coming decades, likely to $35 billion annually by 2050, according to the GAO, the watchdog agency of Congress.



    “The federal government has not undertaken strategic government-wide planning to manage climate risks by using information on the potential economic effects of climate change to identify significant risks and craft appropriate federal responses,” the GAO report concluded.

    “By using such information, the federal government could take the initial step in establishing government-wide priorities to manage such risks.”

    The report comes as the Trump administration works to repeal or weaken nearly every major policy the Obama administration implemented to fight climate change, including limits on carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants and the Paris climate agreement.

    The GAO conducted its research between 2015 and this year at the request of Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Cantwell is the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over major federal land and wildfire programs, as well as fossil fuel production on federal land and offshore.

    “My colleagues no longer have to take it from me — the Government Accountability Office tells us climate change will cost taxpayers more than a half a trillion dollars this decade, and trillions more in the future unless we mitigate the impacts,” Cantwell said in a statement.

    “We cannot ignore the impact of climate change on our public health, our environment, and our economy,” said Collins. “This nonpartisan GAO report Senator Cantwell and I requested contains astonishing numbers about the consequences of climate change for our economy and for the federal budget in particular.”
     
    #1 Invisible Fan, Oct 24, 2017
  2. London'sBurning

    London'sBurning Member

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    One of my sister's had neighbors that were a very lazy married couple. The husband was in IT, and the wife was a stay at home mom that lied about being in nursing school for some reason. Anyhow, they had a tiny hole in their roof that they could have probably fixed themselves for less than $30 at Home Depot. My brother in law pointed it out to them and they just kept on ignoring it. Not much later a storm came and that little hole became a much bigger hole resulting in them having to get the whole roof fixed instead. Their neglect costed them thousands for what could have been an easy patch job. Enough with my Facebook-like platitude about ignoring small problems as they surface though.

    Honestly, if this is the case, it just seems like we're bolstering the economy of China when we'll need their tech since they're now going to be #1 in green energy technologies; A position we were #1 at until our POTUS declared our withdrawal from the Paris agreement. Sounds like bad business to me to aim for short term gains at the cost of long term benefit. I guess when you've declared bankruptcy as many times as Trump has though, you get accustomed to government bailing you out for bad business practices. The only problem is, who bails out the government when the government needs bailing out? We do unfortunately and as citizens, we're going to be the one's paying for it.
     
    #2 London'sBurning, Oct 24, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2017
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  3. Amiga

    Amiga Member

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    Denial is rarely a smart policy.
     
    #3 Amiga, Oct 24, 2017
  4. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
    Supporting Member

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    Sounds like we need to:
    1. Support our coal industry.
    2. Stop the government from studying climate change.
    and
    3. Cut taxes and ignore the growing expenses noted by the GAO.

    Are you tired of winning yet? I personally am not tired of winning! (Besides, I need more data from Two Scoops before I can figure out if he is a nihilist or a brilliant absurdist performance artist.)
     
    #4 B-Bob, Oct 24, 2017
    ThatBoyNick, FranchiseBlade, pirc1 and 1 other person like this.
  5. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    We're the winningest winners the universe has ever seen in its 5,000 years of existence.
     
    #5 Invisible Fan, Oct 24, 2017
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  6. Amiga

    Amiga Member

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    Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) (noaa.gov)

    2021 in Progress…
    In 2021 (as of October 8), there have been 18 weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect the United States. These events included 1 drought event, 2 flooding events, 9 severe storm events, 4 tropical cyclone events, 1 wildfire event, and 1 winter storm event. Overall, these events resulted in the deaths of 538 people and had significant economic effects on the areas impacted. The 1980–2020 annual average is 7.1 events (CPI-adjusted); the annual average for the most recent 5 years (2016–2020) is 16.2 events (CPI-adjusted).

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    #6 Amiga, Jan 6, 2022
  7. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Member

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    The only way to get the right behind Climate Change is for the left to start staying Climate Change is nothing to worry about.
     
    #7 Sweet Lou 4 2, Jan 6, 2022
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