New Environmental Defense Fund Analysis Shows Cost of Inaction on Climate Change in Southwest Florida
Near term impacts include $1.2 billion annual increase in utility bills, property tax loss from chronic flooding.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, Environmental Defense Fund released an analysis showing that Floridians will pay high costs from climate change within the next 20 years – in property tax revenue losses, higher electricity costs and more heat-related deaths. The interactive map shows greater Tampa Bay area and Southwest Florida will be among the hardest hit regions in Florida, if climate change remains unchecked.
By 2030, Florida's coastal counties could lose over $100 million in property taxes from flooding linked to sea level rise and increasingly heavy rains. By 2045, that number jumps to $347 million. The analysis finds that Lee and Manatee counties will lose $22 million each in property tax revenue by 2045 due to chronic flooding, impacting funding for schools, local infrastructure, safety and other essential services.
"Climate change is already threatening Florida communities and economies, and those costs will grow worse without urgent policy action," said Dawn Shirreffs, Florida Director for Environmental Defense Fund. "Florida will not only experience stronger and more damaging hurricanes in the coming years, this analysis uncovers the short-term high costs from other damaging climate impacts we don't talk enough about, including chronic flooding and extreme heat. We hope this research changes the conversation on climate: Florida families and businesses are already paying the costs of inaction"
In addition to losses in property tax revenues, the analysis also calculated the rising costs of electricity and additional heat-related deaths facing Florida families.
*Electricity costs: Floridians already pay 13% more than the national average for electricity. With rising temperatures, households are expected to see increases of 5.3% annually or $1.2 billion every year on their electric bills.
*Heat-related deaths: Additional deaths from extreme heat are expected to be on par with the number of people who die from kidney disease in the state, and higher than the number of deaths associated with brain cancer or high cholesterol.
This Costs of Inaction analysis is based on data from multiple sources, including a first-of-its kind study by Hsiang et al. 2017 through the Climate Impact Lab that calculated costs of climate change using climate science, econometric analyses, process models and more than 100 climate projections. Although many key findings from this study focused on climate costs in the mid-to-late century time frame, this series focuses on median estimates of the near-term costs within the next 20 years. Additionally, EDF relied on flood data from the Union of Concerned Scientists' Underwater report as well as the First Street Foundation's Flood Factor tool.
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading international nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on EDF Voices, Twitter and Facebook.
Contact: Dawn Shirreffs, Florida Director
Environmental Defense Fund
Phone: 321.695.1223
Email: [email protected]
Media Contact
Dawn Shirreffs, Environmental Defense Fund, +1 3216951223, [email protected]
SOURCE Environmental Defense Fund
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