Twice a month, we’re compiling the most relevant news stories from diverse sources online, connecting the latest environmental and energy economics research to global current events, real-time public discourse, and policy decisions. Keep reading, and feel free to send us your feedback.
Here are some questions we’re asking and addressing with our research chops this week:
What kinds of extreme weather events are becoming more common in the United States, and how extreme are they?
Yet another heat wave is baking multiple regions of the United States this week, including the Pacific Northwest and Gulf Coast. This heat wave is one more in a slew that has spared little of the country this summer. Climate change is increasing temperatures and the probability of heat waves. Heat often is the deadliest type of extreme weather in a given year, according to a new article on the Common Resources blog. In the blog post, Resources for the Future (RFF) scholars Yanjun (Penny) Liao and Margaret Walls examine the frequency of heat waves and other extreme weather events in recent decades, along with the deaths and damages that these weather events have caused. “Different types of disasters tend to cause different amounts and kinds of damage,” say Liao and Walls. The article is the first in a series of three blog posts from these authors about extreme weather in the United States.
What regions of the United States are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events?
The Park Fire in northern California has become the fourth-largest wildfire in the state’s history. More than 6,000 firefighters have been deployed, but hot and dry conditions have hindered efforts to contain the blaze, which has burned over 420,000 acres—an area bigger than Los Angeles. Just as California is especially prone to wildfires, certain other regions of the United States are more affected by certain types of extreme weather. Damages also tend to be concentrated. “Some counties are at much higher risk than others,” say RFF scholars Margaret Walls and Penny Liao, who discuss the geographic distribution of damage from extreme weather events in the second article of their series on extreme weather in the United States. A key finding: “When communities are preparing for weather extremes, they cannot necessarily look to history as a guide,” say Walls and Liao. “As climate change makes weather more volatile, communities need to prepare for the worst.”
What risks do “forever chemicals” pose to human health, and what regulations could help mitigate these dangers?
Regulations announced in April by the US Environmental Protection Agency that would limit levels of “forever chemicals” in drinking water have encountered legal challenges from water utilities and chemical manufacturers. Forever chemicals refer to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are a group of synthetic chemicals with extremely durable chemical bonds that have become dangerously common in water systems, consumer goods, agricultural production, and manufacturing facilities. Because PFAS chemical bonds do not break down easily, forever chemicals stick around for long periods of time. Caroline Noblet, an associate professor at the University of Maine, joined an episode of Resources Radio to discuss the negative health impacts of forever chemicals and the agency’s new regulations. “Some health impacts that have been documented include reproductive issues for women; increased risk of certain cancers; lowering the body’s immune system, including vaccine response; high levels of cholesterol; and interference with human-body hormones,” says Noblet.
Resources Roundup
Credit: Arthur Villator / Shutterstock
Discouraging Development to Limit Harm in Disaster-Prone Areas
Extreme weather events are growing in both frequency and intensity due to climate change. The Coastal Barrier Resources Act, a policy enacted in the 1980s, discourages development in areas that have high risk of natural disasters by eliminating eligibility in those areas for flood insurance, public infrastructure investments, and government aid after disasters. In a new journal article published in Nature Climate Change, RFF scholars Penny Liao and Margaret Walls and their coauthors evaluate the effects of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. “We find that the policy leads to lower development densities inside designated areas, increases development in neighbouring areas, reduces flood damages, and alters local demographics,” say the authors.
Removing Dams to Restore Ecosystem Health and Protect Indigenous Culture
Four dams on the Klamath River in northern California and southern Oregon are being removed in an effort to restore the ecosystem in the river basin and the way of life of the Yurok, a local Native nation. In a recent episode of the Resources Radio podcast, Amy Bowers Cordalis, cofounder and principal of Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, discusses the process that led to the removal of the dams, including negotiations with the state of California and the federal government. “We ended up negotiating an amendment to the hydroelectric settlement agreement that took the approval process from Congress and put it back into [the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s] hands,” says Cordalis. “Then, we essentially restarted the relicensing proceedings. Those concluded in November of 2022, and maybe two weeks after, the dam decommissioning teams and crews rolled into the lower Klamath hydroelectric project and set up shop to start dam removal.”
Amending California Cap and Trade
The California Air Resources Board, an agency that regulates air pollutants in the state and operates state climate programs, is considering amendments to the state’s cap-and-trade system. In a new issue brief, RFF scholars Nicholas Roy and Dallas Burtraw analyze three potential amendments that would change the timeline on which the state distributes allowances to polluters that permit them to emit greenhouse gases. Roy and Burtraw also estimate the impact of these amendments on revenue from the cap-and-trade system.
Applying Lessons from the National Flood Insurance Program to Wildfire Insurance
The western United States has become more vulnerable to wildfires in recent years. Like floods, wildfires can cause immense financial losses and pose challenges for insurance markets. Many major insurers no longer write wildfire policies for new clients in California, leaving homeowners to deal with exceptionally high premiums and other issues. In a new report, RFF Fellows Penny Liao, Margaret Walls, and Matthew Wibbenmeyer examine lessons learned from the long-running National Flood Insurance Program and consider options that could improve wildfire insurance. “In the private market for wildfire coverage, the tension is between availability and affordability,” say the authors. “Any solution to the wildfire insurability crisis should confront this tension by recognizing both the importance of implementing risk-based pricing to provide the correct price signal about risk and the need to assist low- and middle-income households in maintaining insurance coverage.”
Improving the Accessibility and Affordability of Electric Vehicles to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption
A transition to electric vehicles (EVs) from a largely gasoline-powered vehicle fleet hinges on the expansion of charging infrastructure for EVs. In a new working paper, RFF Fellows Penny Liao and Beia Spiller, alongside a coauthor, discuss the interaction between subsidies for EVs and the development of charging infrastructure. The authors find that subsidies and the density of charging stations have a complementary relationship. “A hybrid policy combining these two types of incentives might help optimize the overall cost-effectiveness in accelerating EV adoption,” say the authors.
🎨 Climate in the Culture 🎵
Image Courtesy of Universal Studios
Twisters, a movie which premiered last month in a storm of country music, special effects, and yee-hawing from star Glen Powell, fundamentally is a story about people on a quest to understand and stop destructive tornadoes in America’s heartland (and maybe fall in love along the way). Yet, for a movie about natural disasters, climate change is not mentioned once. Director Lee Isaac Chung has said that this omission was intentional. A number of reviewers see Twisters as a missed opportunity—another example of skirting an issue that moviemakers worry will alienate audiences. But this fear may be misplaced: 73 percent of Americans say they have personally observed the effects of climate change, according to the latest survey in an ongoing study from RFF and Stanford University, and moviegoers actually may be hungry for “climate-friendly” flicks. While Twisters subtly alludes to climate change in an otherwise unsubtle movie, the issue could have been broached more bluntly. But the movie’s climax delivers a clear message: when researchers and everyday people team up to stop a seemingly insurmountable challenge, we can—with science, ingenuity, and some blockbuster-worthy reckless driving—help communities that may be in harm’s way.
