Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle.
Our Daily Planet is a daily morning email (M-F) to keep you informed of the stories shaping our environment. If these issues matter to you, we’d like to be the best ten minutes of your morning.
A flood-damaged home in Marathon Keys, FL. Image: Jayme Gershen/Bloomberg
In the last 20 years, the U.S. has seen an average of almost seven natural events per year that each produce damages in excess of $1 billion. In the aftermath, not only are homeowners waiting an average of 5 years for FEMA-backed buyout of damaged homes but there’s growing concern that banks are giving out risky loans to borrowers in flood zones and selling their riskiest loans to the two main federal agency securitizers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The New York Times reported that the regulations governing Fannie and Freddie do not let them factor the added risk from natural disasters into their pricing, which means banks and other lenders can offload mortgages in vulnerable areas without financial penalty. According to a new study, that increases the incentive for banks to make the loans and then move them off their books while passing the cost off on taxpayers.
The Reality: In a recent article, Bloomberg explained thatby the end of the century, 13 million Americans will need to move just because of rising sea levels, at a cost of $1 million each. Making matters worse, even in a “managed retreat,” coordinated and funded at the federal level, the economic disruption could resemble the housing crash of 2008. Some states are doing far less than others to create a timely buyout program and address the reality of rising seas:
Florida accounts for 40% of the riskiest coastal land in the U.S., according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, but it’s done little so far to pull people back from the coasts and lags behind states such as New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas.
To Complicate Things Further: In some places throughout the country where the risk of flooding is particularly high, flood insurance premiums are going up by 18% each year and this is just the beginning of the trend. On the one hand, high premiums deter people from living in flood-prone areas but on the other hand, homes, and businesses that exist at the frontlines cannot afford insurance and often just go without it as the cost of relocation is equally as high. There’s no easy answer but regardless this predicament that many Americans face should be a wakeup call to lawmakers that they must begin addressing climate change immediately and comprehensively.
Why This Matters: At the same time that states (with the help of the federal government) are buying out homes in areas that rising waters will soon claim, banks are giving out loans to encourage development in coastal areas. It’s a dangerous predicament and reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis where financial institutions nearly tanked the global economy for issuing loans that were objectively far too risky. Climate change is one of the single greatest risks to the U.S. economy and lawmakers will have to contend with it one way or another whether they work on climate mitigation and adaptation measures now or pay for damages later–the former being drastically cheaper than the latter.
By WW0 Staff For the United States, the post-Trump, pre-COP26 road to Glasgow has been paved with ambition and humility. In a major speech, the President’s Envoy, John Kerry, previewed the results of his climate diplomacy before heading into two weeks of intense deliberations of world leaders. Speaking at the London School of Economics — […]
Next week, the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow will draw hundreds of world leaders to Glasgow to determine the path forward five years after the Paris Climate Agreement (for a primer, read this) as new science underscores the urgency. The conference aims to squeeze countries to strengthen the commitments they’ve made towards securing global net-zero […]
By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor In a report released last week, the Department of Defense (DOD) confirmed that existing risks and security challenges in the US are being made worse due to “increasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change. Now, the Pentagon is […]
Subscribe to the email that top lawmakers, renowned scientists, and thousands of concerned citizens turn to each morning for the latest environmental news and analysis.
Want the lastest climate news summarized for you each morning?
Our Daily Planet is your daily dose of the stories shaping our world and the ways that you can take action. From the climate crisis to the protection of biodiversity, if these issues matter to you then please subscribe & stay informed!
Your privacy is Important! We promise never to use your email address to send you spam or advertisements.