Kelly Sanks is the Climate Science Lead at the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI). CCI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers communities and officials with knowledge and tools to hold oil and gas corporations accountable for their deception. Before joining CCI, Kelly received her PhD in Geosciences from the University of Arkansas and then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tulane University, where she studied sea level rise impacts on coastal wetlands and co-taught Introduction to Climate Change. At CCI, Kelly leads the climate cost projects, which involve estimating how much climate change is costing communities across the country.
SESSION
What is Climate Change Costing Your Community and Who Should Pay?
During this session, we will examine key findings from three local and state reports on the cost of implementing climate change adaptation measures and treating climate-induced public health threats in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles County. Whether you live in a (relative) climate safe haven like northern Wisconsin or a place typically thought of as being on the front lines of climate change like Los Angeles, we find that your community faces crippling climate adaptation costs. Pennsylvania faces over $15 billion from just 8 climate adaptations, Wisconsin faces nearly $17 billion from 9 climate adaptations and 3 public health threats, and Los Angeles County faces over $12 billion from 12 climate adaptations and 2 public health threats. Tax payers are currently on the hook for these costs, but we will open the discussion about who should really be paying for the costs of climate change.