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The Cost of Inaction: Failure to Address Financial Costs of Climate Change Will Hurt Taxpayers
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Abstract
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs convened a hearing on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) High Risk Report to examine the fiscal impact of climate change and extreme weather events. Senator Gary Peters directed the Minority Staff of the Committee to analyze disaster assistance costs, failures in mitigating climate change, and potential savings through better adaptation strategies. The resulting report finds that federal disaster assistance funding is nearing half a trillion dollars, the increasing intensity and frequency of natural disasters will strain the nation's infrustructure, and the Trump administration failed to take steps necessary for mitigating current and future damage from climate change. Futhermore, the report recommends that the administration make public accurate information on climate change funding to properly measure its impact on taxpayers, previous levels of climate change funding should be restored and safeguards added to prevent sudden changes in the future, Congress should improve grant programs for adapting the nation's existing infrastructure, and Congress should take steps to ensure the administrations complies with the Global Change Research Act of 1990.
Date
2019-04-22
Document Type
Senate Minority Staff Report
Serial Number
Document Length
35 pages
Congress
116
Relation
DOI
Keywords
Staff Reports
PAP Major Code
7: Environment
PAP Minor Code
705: Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Noise Pollution