Cost Of Inaction Toward Fighting Climate Change Increases Exponentially

 

Photo:  NOAA

The cost of infrastructure improvement throughout our nation may have skeptics from the right and left.  But just look at Hurricane Ida.  The damage done to the power grid alone is staggering.  In one article from the Associated Press, an estimated 22,000 power poles were destroyed by Ida -- more than Hurricanes Katrina, Delta, and Zeta combined:

Ida damaged or destroyed more than 22,000 power poles, more than hurricanes Katrina, Zeta and Delta combined, an impact Entergy President and CEO Phillip May called “staggering.” More than 5,200 transformers failed and nearly 26,000 spans of wire — the stretch of transmission wires between poles — were down.

That is hard to comprehend. So the next time you are outside, look at the street -- specifically at the power poles running down the street.  Then think about the 22,000 power poles that have been destroyed by Hurricane Ida.  

How long does such a job take to repair and replace all 22,000 power poles?  

Not to mention all of the destroyed wire that runs along those power poles and the transformers that sit on each power pole.  Oh my goodness.  

What an endeavor to manage and take on?

In a recent interview on MSNBC Morning Joe, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm from the Department of Energy was interviewed about the costs of climate change heading into the future:

The costs are increasing exponentially over the years.  From the '80s, there was a doubling every decade to the increase from $50 billion to $150 billion each year to fight the effects of each damaging storm. 

Yes, the damage done in Houston last year cost us (taxpayers) around $150 billion.  That money could have gone to other needed costs. Instead of spending money to improving our infrastructure, we choose as a nation to incur large amounts of unneeded costs with each storm.  And that does not take into account the costs associated with the displacement of Americans.

The time to act is now.  Waiting will only increase the costs over time.  Which is not a good idea for our nation and the residents that are constantly adversely impacted by such storms.  Tell your elected official to vote yes on infrastructure bills that combat climate change.