CLIMATE RISK

$555 billion.

That’s how much is in the White House reconciliation package for climate change.

It is the most the federal government has ever committed to dealing with climate change.

It’s six times what President Obama spent on clean energy in his 2009 economic recover bill.

It covers every aspect of what the federal government can do on climate and clean energy.

It is the single, biggest part of President Biden’s Build Back Better bill.

Everyone refers to this figure — $555 billion — as a “cost.”

But here’s the thing.

We now live in what is clearly a massive “climate risk” era.

Climate change is — right now — exacting a huge cost on American society.

It will be exponentially larger in 10 or 20 years if we don’t deal with climate now.

It will harm every aspect of society — from farms and our health to real estate and jobs.

We’ve spent $2 trillion cleaning up climate-related disasters in the past 30 years.

Since 2017, floods, hurricanes and other disasters have cost nearly $700 billion.

In 2021 (so far), there have been 18 disasters causing losses of more than $1 billion each.

Climate risk is measurable.

There are economic models that explain it.

Every degree C of warming costs us 1% of our GDP in America.

Every, single year.

America’s GDP is now $22 trillion.

Earth has warmed 1C already.

It could warm another 1C in another 25 years.

It could warm 4C by the end of the century.

If we don’t slow climate change, the economic risk to America is huge.

The economy is suffering hundreds of billions of losses right now due to climate change.

The annual cost to the American economy from climate change by 2100 could be $1 trillion.

Every, single year.

This is climate risk.

This is the era we now live in.

Yes, America will spend $55 billion a year on climate under Build Back Better.

Yes, it’s a cost.

But climate change will harm the American economy in unimaginable ways if we do nothing.

So that $55 billion a year in Build Back Better?

It’s money well spent.

Because climate risk is real.

It is harming the American economy, right now.

What we don’t spend now will cost us much more later.

We have to act on climate as if the American economic way of life depends on it.

Because it does.

#ActonClimate