There’s a meaningful and wise investment we can make today that can save us six times as much in the near future.
As our climate changes, we’re experiencing more costly damage from droughts, wildfires, severe storms and floods. Yale Climate Connections reports that 2023 set a record for weather disasters costing $1 billion or more with 28 such events; the previous record year was 2020 with 22 events.
Texas led the country with the costliest weather-related disasters. The Texas Farm Bureau notes that of the more than 28 disasters costing at least $1 billion, Texas experienced 16, with drought causing the most damage and more than $20 billion in losses.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, billion-dollar disasters are increasing in both frequency and cost, and every state has been impacted by at least one billion-dollar event since 1980 when records began. And if you guessed that Texas has had the most since 1980, you are correct; 100 such events impacted at least some part of the state.
In economic research published in the science journal “Nature” in April, the authors found that the global economy is already committed to climate-induced impacts on economic growth that will result in an income reduction of 19% within the next 26 years regardless of future emission choices.
Simply put, by 2050, our global inactivity on climate will severely affect our wallets. The damage already “baked in” exceeds the costs of mitigation needed to limit global warming sixfold through 2050. This means that every dollar spent today on preventing climate disasters would save us $6 in the immediate future.
When faced with the dire need to address climate change immediately, a common refrain from elected officials is we can’t afford the cost. But we can’t afford the cost of doing nothing.
Children born this year will be 26 years old in 2050. By then, they’ll have careers, own businesses and have families of their own. Do we doom our children and grandchildren to lower standards of living? To a future where the cost of homeowners insurance is beyond reach? Where life-changing disasters are on the rise?
We know what needs to be done, and we have the tools to make changes now.
We must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by implementing a durable, bipartisan price on carbon that returns the funds collected to the American people. We must protect American manufacturing by imposing a carbon border adjustment mechanism like that implemented by the European Union.
We must prevent and repair methane leaks and improve the health of natural carbon sinks such as wetlands and forests. We must expand wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear energy options where appropriate and deploy utility-scale batteries to smooth out the grid. And we must improve that grid through a combination of permitting reform and technological advancement.
I encourage you to let your senators and representatives, both in Washington, D.C., and Austin, know that kicking the can down the road is not an option. Tell them that we can save six times the future expenses by acting today. We need bipartisan solutions now.
Stuart Birnbaum, an emeritus associate professor of geological sciences at The University of Texas at San Antonio, is co-leader of the San Antonio Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Education.
A version of this op-ed appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.
