The Cost of Inaction: Why Bipartisan Climate Legislation is Crucial to Prevent Future Natural Disasters

LEZAH RICHARDSON—As hurricane season concludes and wildfire activity continues, the resulting devastation shows the profound impact of climate-related disasters. While the financial, environmental, and human toll continues to rise, bipartisan efforts to address climate change remain gridlocked. This not only delays critical solutions but also exacerbates the crisis, as the staggering cost of inaction deepens the burden on vulnerable communities, strains federal budgets, and destroys the environment we rely on to survive.

In 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered across the United States. Milton, a Category 3 hurricane, struck Florida, causing widespread power outages and severe flooding. Just two weeks later, Helene tore through the Southeast, unleashing catastrophic flash flooding and leaving millions without power from Florida’s Big Bend region to North Carolina. Helene’s destruction claimed 219 lives—the deadliest to hit the mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005—and caused an estimated $78.7 billion in damages, while Milton’s toll reached $34.3 billion.

In the first month of 2025, California faced a wave of destruction as wildfires burned 37,794 acres. Among the most destructive were the Palisades and Eaton Fires. As of January 21, 2025, 88,000 residents remained under evacuation orders, more than 12,000 structures were destroyed, and 25 lives were lost.

These disasters are part of an alarming trend of extreme weather events in the United States. In the last decade, the nation has endured 190 separate billion-dollar disasters, claiming over 6,300 lives and roughly $1.4 trillion in damage. Since records began in 1980, the nation has endured 403 separate weather events with damages exceeding $1 billion each, a total of $2.915 trillion. In the past five years, the U.S. has seen 18 or more billion-dollar disasters.

Climate change is undeniable, and so are its costs. As the scale and frequency of climate disasters increase, many still oppose climate policies, believing that inaction is a cost-effective and sustainable option. Within President Trump’s first week in office, he signed executive orders to roll back climate action, increase oil and gas production, reduce support for electric vehicles, and withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Additionally, President Trump suggested eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and implementing conditions on disaster aid such as requiring states to implement voter identification laws. Furthermore, the Trump administration halted funding for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Acts, threatening billions of dollars for vital projects related to improving air quality, making energy more affordable, and building climate resilient communities. Lawmakers warn that this could delay or destroy essential climate resilience efforts already in motion.

Even though the federal government is retreating from climate solutions, states, cities, businesses, and communities are stepping up to fill the void. In recent years, the clean energy sector has proven its potential by growing faster than fossil fuels in global electricity generation. Additionally, a coalition of 24 states and territories are committed to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, New York enacted a law requiring major oil and gas producers to contribute to the costs of climate impacts resulting from their emissions, and California voters approved Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond measure, to prepare for climate impacts.

Extreme weather events are no longer an anomaly—they are the new normal. Now is the time when bipartisan climate legislation, especially at the federal level, is crucial to mitigate and recover from natural disasters.