Paradise, Gardiner Struggle Under Economic Toll Of Climate Change
Paradise, California, is at risk of defaulting on its municipal debt. The town's struggle to recover from the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed huge swaths of the town exemplifies the toll climate change is taking on municipalities across the country as it makes extreme weather disasters worse and more frequent. “A growing subset of investors are comfortable putting their thumbs on scale and saying ‘I don’t want anything with high climate exposure’,” Adam Stern, co-head of municipal research at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, told the Wall Street Journal. Though not incinerated, Gardiner, Montana, was cut off — physically and economically — when heavy rains set off mudslides that washed out roads and blocked the town's access to Yellowstone National Park last month, the Washington Post reports. The Post's in-depth piece examines the sometimes-hidden economic destruction of climate change not instantly captured in photos of washed out roads.
(Wall Street Journal $; Washington Post $)
(Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, Wildfire Risk Increase, Western Wildfire Season 2018)
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