WASHINGTON – With cleanup efforts just beginning, financial research and intelligence company Moody’s Analytics now estimates that costs from Hurricane Helene could reach $34 billion, making it one of the most expensive climate-related disasters in American history.
Following is a statement from Bob Keefe, executive director of national nonpartisan business group E2 author of the 2022 book “Climatenomics” which details the economic costs of climate change.
“Climate change is now an economic issue, and Hurricane Helene is once again reminding us how expensive it is for all of us to ignore it.
“We’re finally on the path in this country to reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels that turbocharge climate disasters like Helene, thanks to smart federal and state climate policies. The horrific damage we’re now seeing throughout the Southeast is yet another stark and expensive reminder that we can’t slow down; we must build on this progress.”
In October 2022, E2 and PSE Healthy Energy released a detailed report on the economic costs of climate change for every state and the Top 100 counties in America (For more details on your state or county, see here). According to theanalysis, a third of all losses from climate-related disasters since 1980 ($2.5 trillion) occurred between 2017 and 2021 ($765 billion). Now just two years later, more than 40 percent ($1.0 trillion) of climate disaster losses have come since 2017 after disasters cost the U.S. economy $92 billion in 2023 and $178 billion in 2022.
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E2 is a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and professionals from every sector of the economy who advocate for smart policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment. Our members have founded or funded more than 2,500 companies, created more than 600,000 jobs, and manage more than $100 billion in venture and private equity capital. For more information, see www.e2.org or follow us on Twitter at @e2org.