Mad About Inflation?
Do Something About Climate Change
Stephen Lewis
September 2024
Each of us is paying a hidden bill every month due to the cost of climate change, and that bill is large and getting larger. In fact, it is shocking. We all know that consumers have been struggling and frustrated by recent price increases in food, insurance, housing, and electricity among other monthly costs. As we come to understand that one of the largest drivers of inflation is climate change we have to ask what is being done about it?
Image by Markus Distelrath from Pixabay
In April, Consumer Reports published a story about a recent report they commissioned which found “As Earth Day arrives, the lifetime cost of climate change for a baby born in the U.S. in 2024 could be nearly $500,000” and if factoring in some less clear impacts that number could jump to nearly $1 million. The study found lifetime increases in housing costs of $125,000; energy cost increases of $88,000; and food increases of $33,000 among other cost increases for healthcare and transportation.
As alarming as those projected lifetime additional costs are, here in Connecticut consumers may not realize it, but those climate costs are already hitting or about to hit their bank accounts in a harsh way. Let’s start with the cost of electricity. We all know our electricity rates are among the highest in the country and the portion of our bills that goes to delivering that electricity continues to go up fast. And now, you are paying for the extension of the lifespan of the Millstone nuclear power plant. That deal to extend its life, while ensuring ongoing carbon-free electricity generation, added 77% to the public benefit charge on your bill starting in July for the next ten months. While this is not caused by climate change, it is meant to help address it, and legislators chose to extend a costly source of electricity instead of rapidly expanding more cost-effective clean and renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
But more to the point, consider that the cost from the increase in storms caused by a warming climate to our electric rate could be as much as $360 over six years according to a December 2023 column in the CT Insider by Dan Haar: “Eversource asking customers to pay $634M in storm costs.” The cause of this? “First, global warming brings not only more super-intense storms, but sometimes more storms period.” On top of this, the column goes on to point out that “there is an additional $1 billion in costs Eversource will seek recovery for as soon as Jan 1, 2025”, which means that $360 will go up even higher. And it is not just storm costs — a warmer and more humid climate spikes your electric usage in the summer forcing you to spend more on cooling your home. This will continue to drive your electric bill significantly higher. This summer is a case in point.
But electricity prices are only one place where climate change is inflating prices. Take homeowner’s insurance, which has also been increasing faster than the general rate of inflation. Another recent article in CT Insider on April 4 points this out, “Report: CT homeowners could see another hike in insurance rates in 2024.” “With U.S. insurance claims escalating amid extreme weather and wildfires, Connecticut homeowners rates could rise by 9 percent on average this year according to a new report — one of the dozen biggest increases in the nation on the heels of four straight years of increasing property and casualty insurance claims by Connecticut policyholders.” “Insurify estimates Connecticut homeowners will see an average increase of $163 on renewal, pushing the average premium past $1,925 for 2024.”
Costs at the grocery store are another sore spot for consumers. An article in Forbes on March 21, 2024 makes this climate linkage clear. “Climate Change Is Worsening Inflation And Pushing Food Prices Even Higher, Researchers Warn”. The article finds that consumer food prices could rise as much as 3.2% annually into the future. Of course for local and fresh farm food here in Connecticut, the climate was literally a disaster for farmers in 2023: “Lamont Requests Disaster Declaration for $21 Million in Flood-Related Agriculture Damage”. Every weather-related disaster impacting agriculture reduces our food supply and drives up prices at the store. This is pointed out as well in a March 11 article in Yale Climate Connections noting that ”The reality is that rising food prices should be our constant reminder of the havoc that climate change is causing. In 2023, extreme weather, such as heat waves, droughts, and floods, was the main disrupter of food prices, causing widespread damage to crops and livestock globally.”
These examples are only a small sample of the wider impacts to Connecticut consumers from climate change that are occurring now and will become strikingly more significant in the future, but the cost of inaction is substantial. “Projections of global economic damages caused by climate change until 2049 outweigh by sixfold the mitigation costs required to meet the Paris Climate Agreement and limit global warming to 2°C, according to a new report in the journal Nature as reported by CNN.” In other words, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or in this case a dollar invested in mitigation can save six dollars in damages.
Given the fact that business and industry have lobbied heavily to prevent state policy on slowing and stopping the causes of climate change due to burning fossil fuels, they have caused taxpayers and consumers millions more in spending. This includes the increased cost to speed up the clean energy transition and at the same time invest millions into so-called resiliency of our storm drains, sewers, waterfronts and many other parts of our infrastructure and electric grid. There is no time to waste. Legislators need to take action in the 2025 General Assembly session to not only make progress slowing climate change, but to find ways to help shield consumers from its consequences both in terms of storm damage, but as importantly, its impact on their pocketbooks.
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Stephen Lewis is the chair of Sierra Club’s Greater Hartford Group, Legislative Committee and Political Committee