A recent report is raising more concerns about taxpayer costs as the temperatures rise
A recent report is raising more concerns about taxpayer costs as the temperatures rise
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A recent report is raising more concerns about taxpayer costs as the temperatures rise
A recent report is raising more concerns about the impact of climate change in Massachusetts — specifically what it will cost taxpayers.
“Climate change could be costly for Massachusetts cities and towns,” said Bo Zhao, a senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston who authored that report.
His research found, from 1990 to 2019, every time the average temperature climbed just one degree, cities and towns spent 3.2% more. By the end of the century, Zhao estimated that spending would jump 30%.
“Coastal communities are more impacted than inland communities. They are more vulnerable to extreme weather events,” he said.
That adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending on everything from snow removal to road maintenance to heating and cooling public buildings.
Zhao said there’s no way to stop costs from rising at this point, but making adjustments now can still have an impact.
It’s something that’s already happening in Mattapoisett. Thanks to state and federal funding, what was cranberry farmland is being restored to natural wetlands.
“That process involves removing the sand that was placed over the original wetlands and using that to fill in the ditches and removing sections of the dikes that would’ve been put there during the farming times,” said Sara Quintal, a restoration ecologist with the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
Quintal and others say this is a big boost for wildlife who depend on this habitat, but it also helps us.
“Wetlands are really, really, really key for protecting clean water,” Quintal explained. “Particularly here in the Mattapoisett River Valley where the water below our feet is the water that people drink.”
Wetlands absorb and filter rainwater which eventually ends up in our homes. They’re also great at absorbing excess rainfall and mitigating flood concerns. On the South Coast, the bogs will provide recreational trails, bird-watching and other outdoor activities.
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