Climate Change Has Huge Cost Implications

I heard a captivating radio interview today with journalist Victoria St. Martin reporting for Inside Climate News, who is covering the upshot of a “heat-dome” event in the summer of 2021 in the northern part of Oregon, a region of the United States in which normal temperatures for that time of year are mild in the low 80s.  During this period lasting almost a week, afternoon highs ranged between 108 and 116.  The heat was so intense that cable car metal melted, asphalt buckled, and 72 lives were lost to heat stroke.

Obviously, climate change is making certain parts of the world increasingly inhabitable, but for some reason, the folks associated with this tragedy didn’t simply write this off with an “oh well, let’s move on.”  Rather, they’re suing Big Oil for causing these fatalities, and for other damages, which are expected to reach $1.5 billion.