American Security Project: How Much Will Climate Change Cost Your State?
Source: Triple Pundit, 5/4/2011
ASP’s Pay Now, Pay Later report is featured.
The American Security Project ASP, a non-profit, bipartisan public policy and research organization, has recently issued a series of 50 reports entitled Pay Now or Pay Later: A State by State Assessment of the Impact of Climate Change. The series turns the classic argument that it costs too much to do anything to prevent or minimize the impact of climate change on its head by exploring the costs of inaction on a state by state basis.
The series begins with the premise that climate change is going to cost a lot whether we act on it or not, but it’s likely to cost a great deal more if we wait to act. The impacts will likely affect our economy, security, competitiveness and public health.
As Republican NJ Governor and former EPA head Christy Todd Whitman, a member of the ASP board, said, “Too often the debate about climate breaks down over cost, with many Americans rightfully concerned about what limiting pollution would do to our economy. But what this series of reports shows is that there is a cost on the other side of the ledger, too. There will be costs to our economic security from climate change—and significant ones at that—if we do nothing but continue business as usual.”
Some examples of the findings include…
