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Climate & Capital Media's "Silent Spring" raises an important omission in the Fed's oversight. Perhaps US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell should focus on the significant financial losses - actual material risks -that are increasingly eroding the US economy due to climate driven disasters, rather than the phrase "climate change" itself, if he finds it so objectionable. According to NOAA, the total cost of US billion-dollar weather & climate disasters over the past 5 years is a staggering $603.1 billion - an average annual cost of $120.6 billion - more than double the inflation-adjusted average cost over the past 44 years. Over the past 10 years, economic losses exceed $1.2 trillion. For 2024, the NCEI estimates there have been 19 climate disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion each. The year is not over. Powell's hyperbolic statement, "The idea that we (the Fed) should discover climate change and say we will lead the fight on climate..." is disingenuous and obfuscates a fundamental mandate for any business or financial institution: that it is a matter of fiduciary duty to identify, measure, monitor and manage material risks inherent to a business. Keep in mind that these losses relate to billion dollar climate events and do not include disasters that have incurred less than a billion in losses, so the actual financial losses to the US economy due to climate disasters are actually higher. Barclay Palmer Hunter Lovins Ceres, Inc.
Read this week's CCM by Peter McKillop, which discusses why US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Democratic National Convention share a distinct aversion to addressing climate change. "The Democrats’ reluctance to embrace climate change as their issue also flies in the face of voter sentiment. Poll after poll says Americans are enthusiastic about the green energy transition: Pew Research reports that 78% of voters want more solar and wind power; another 73% want more proactive government action." https://lnkd.in/e6GjziRe Subscribe to Climate & Capital Media for news from our independent, mission-driven journalists and climate specialists around the globe. In addition to our stories on the opportunities and risks of the fast-moving climate economy, our subscribers receive our weekly Editor's letter on trends and important issues. Sign up for free via https://lnkd.in/gJMkwdAg