Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

Members of the House are back at it again this a.m. and hearing testimony on one of my favorite topics to cover: #climatechange resiliency. Story to come for @CourthouseNews. 🌏🌎🌍

If you have the time, you can watch the hearing live here:
climatecrisis.house.gov/committee-acti…

Rachel Cleetus Policy Director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, shares her research with Congress and explains why resiliency planning matters.
The staggering findings:

- By 2100, 2.5M U.S. coastal homes and commercial properties, now worth more than $1 trillion, will be at risk of chronic flooding
- By 2045, within the lifetime of a typical mortgage today, roughly 325K properties, worth about $136 billion, are at risk of total destruction

- The properties at risk by 2045 contribute $1.5B to today's property tax base, those numbers jump to $12B by 2100
- States on the front line of this huge economic loss: New York, New Jersey and Florida

"It's not just about homeowners; there are implications for lenders, investors and the surrounding affected communities. Communities that have fewer resources to begin with, will be hardest hit, like those in MD, NC, NJ,, will see higher than average poverty rates," Cleetus said.

I've reported on the intersection of national security and climate before, and while I think there are is a large swath of the country that actually understands why these issues go hand-in-hand, let's put it in perspective again:

-By 2050 most bases will see 10x the number of floods in their regions than what is seen today.
- By 2100, 8 mil. bases will lose 25-50% of land due to rising seas
- Bases in places like Key West or Paris Island will lose 75 to 95% of their land by the end of the century

As bleak as the whole climate thing goes, it is not hopeless and there are (totally reasonable) things experts say we can do NOW to start planning for our own vulnerabilities. Even in this politically divisive time. My story (to be published soon) captures this...

And what Congress can do to push the U.S. closer to meaningful action.
If there was ever a hearing I wanted every person in America to tune into, it was this one.

STORY: As the window to cope with global warming gets tighter each day, climate experts told Congress Thursday there is still time to head off the worst economic – and moral – outcomes.
courthousenews.com/america-under-…