Shining a Light on the Hidden Costs of Climate Change

What isn’t measured doesn’t get managed.  The economic statistics that American policymakers rely on to judge our economic performance such as gross domestic product and employment don’t encompass nature and climate. That means that the carbon dioxide and methane and other pollutants we put into the atmosphere and the seas aren’t counted as negatives in how we view the economy statistically. It also means that the rising costs of disasters – wildfires, floods, hurricanes and the like – that are worsened by climate change don’t show up in our data. So when houses lost to fires or floods are replaced, that shows up as positives in employment and output, so that seems like good economic performance.

In the last three years, weather and climate disasters have averaged over $140 billion in damage per year. By contrast, the Inflation Reduction Act will invest less than $40 billion a year to reduce greenhouse gases. We have so far chosen to accept damages rather than prevent them.

The Biden Administration has set up a major statistical initiative across multiple departments to address this data deficit. Over the next several years, we will generate the data needed to envision both the costs of climate change and the benefits from reducing climate pollution. 

I am working on Federal policy working groups to carry out these mandates. I discussed these issues in a podcast on Planet Philadelphia on February 2nd. You can listen to this 20-minute interview by clicking here.