OPINION: Yes, Climate Change Is an Issue for Voters
Connecting climate change with the affordability crisis.
By Rev. Richard Cizik
GUEST WRITER
Americans can be forgiven for worrying about rising prices for food, housing, electricity, and transportation without making the connection to climate change.
Climate change is not top-of-mind for most hardworking families trying to make ends meet, and many people remain unaware of the full scale of the climate crisis in the U.S. This is why it is time to change the conversation about climate change, from CO2 levels and weather-related disasters to the fact that our warming environment is increasing the costs for every household in this country.
How much are we paying for the consequences of climate change? According to researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the accumulated costs amount to more than $110 billion a year.
Moreover, a new study published by these researchers finds that each US household pays between $400 and $900 a year, on average, in expenses related to climate change. However, these annual climate-related costs exceed $1,300 per household for around 10% of U.S. counties—especially parts of the West, Midwest, and Southeast, and wildfire-prone areas like California.
The MIT researchers also note that U.S. households are feeling the financial impacts of climate change in ways that may not be immediately apparent. This is because climate change is a “threat multiplier” for the cost of living, driving up the costs of everything from food and insurance to energy costs and consumer goods.
These are some of the ways that climate change is making life more expensive:
Climate change has contributed to some of the largest food price increases families have faced in recent years. Due in part to extreme weather, coffee, meats, and sweets are among the items experiencing the most significant spikes.
Intense heatwaves increase energy demand, while extreme weather can damage infrastructure, causing utility bills to rise. Household energy costs are about $35 higher, both because households are spending more for cooling and because utility companies have to rebuild systems leveled by storms and wildfires.
Since 2015, homeowners in some regions experiencing more extreme weather have seen home insurance costs go up by nearly 57 percent. Some estimates put the cost of home insurance premiums at more than $600 each year to U.S. households.
Weather is the cause of 23 percent of all road delays in the U.S., and costs trucking companies between $2 billion and $3.5 billion annually.
At a time when affordability is the most important issue in the 2026 midterms, Americans need to know that climate change affects their pocketbooks and that they can do something about this in the voting booth.
The sad fact is the Trump Administration’s policies are steering the country towards greater climate risk and higher household costs by blocking billions of dollars in funding for clean energy projects, maximizing oil and gas drilling, expediting leases for coal mining on federal lands, and cancelling the Endangerment Finding, which has ended the country’s environmental protections. Voters can say no to these policies by electing members of Congress who understand that climate change and rising prices go hand-in-hand, and will work to restore climate protections.
Rev. Richard Cizik is executive director of Evangelicals for Democracy, which brings together people of faith—Republicans, Democrats, and Independents of all walks of life—who believe that as Americans, we are stronger and more resilient together than when we are divided.
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