Whitehouse, Leader Schumer, and Senate Democrats Spotlight How Climate Change Drives Up Household Costs for American Families

Trump's fossil fuel donors put heavy burden on family budgets-from home insurance to utility bills, grocery prices, and health costs

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), and U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hosted a spotlight forum with Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and experts on the many ways climate change is driving the affordability crisis facing working American families from home insurance to grocery prices and health care costs. The spotlight builds on last week's roundtable on rising energy costs, co-hosted by Senator Whitehouse; Senator Heinrich, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Leader Schumer.

"Consumers don't just pay for fossil fuel corruption at the pump; they pay for it on their utility bills, at the hospital, in the grocery aisles, and at home," said Ranking Member Whitehouse. "In fact, consumers pay twice for fossil fuels. Just this week, Trump gave one billion in taxpayer dollars to bribe an energy company to kill its offshore wind projects and invest in fossil fuels instead. That will drive up electricity costs because the wind power is less expensive. Americans also pay the costs of a fossil energy as climate change wreaks havoc on infrastructure, agriculture, public health, and property insurance. The more this Administration rewards Trump's fossil fuel donors, the more Americans are exposed to the risks and costs of climate change."

"Clean energy is not just the healthier and more efficient option - it's also the most affordable," said Leader Schumer. "By waging a war against clean energy and climate safety, Trump is making everything more expensive-from groceries and property insurance to healthcare and energy-all while he kills good-paying jobs, blocks development, and pollutes our air and water. Trump is cozying up to his Big Oil buddies - bowing to the desires of special interests rather than standing up for the American people. The result is sicker kids, higher electricity bills, and more damaging, extreme weather. Senate Democrats will keep exposing Trump's corrupt fossil fuel giveaways as we fight for climate action and more clean, affordable energy."

Witnesses included Dr. Kim Clausing, the Eric M. Zolt Chair in Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law; Dr. Vijay Limaye, Senior Scientist and Director of Climate and Health at the Natural Resources Defense Council; Dr. Andrew Pershing, Chief Program Officer at Climate Central; and Andreanecia Morris, Executive Director of HousingNOLA.

Highlights from EPW's spotlight forum:

DR. KIM CLAUSING: "Over the past year, many Americans have experienced growing frustration with affordability: healthcare, groceries, housing, utility bills, and gas prices are all big concerns. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration's policies have worsened affordability across all of these dimensions; tariffs have increased the cost of many goods, the OBBBA legislation made healthcare more expensive by reducing Medicaid funding and support for premium tax credits, immigration clampdowns have hurt the cost of housing construction and other services, the repeal of clean energy tax credits have raised many people's utility bills, and the current war in Iran is needlessly raising gas prices at the pump. Beyond these pressures, a less appreciated driver of affordability is climate change itself. In recent research, we've documented how climate change is already increasing costs for US households. Even leaving aside many factors that we can't measure, the average household is experiencing already nearly $900 per year increase in their costs due to the effects of climate change, and those costs are much higher in some parts of the country."

DR. VIJAY LIMAYE: "Behind the headlines on climate disasters happening across the country, there's a largely invisible story about the ways in which climate chaos is making us sicker as a nation. The deaths, illnesses, and injuries linked to climate change are a costly and growing economic problem that we must address. Our research shows that these financial costs are not only a future concern, they are already burdening American households - no matter what kind of insurance they have. At its core, the climate problem is a human health emergency because we all rely on clean air and a safe, stable climate to stay healthy. Fossil fuels are a costly burden on both of these health fronts. Across the country, burning of coal, oil, and fossil gas generates deadly air pollution that causes people's arteries to harden, deposits carcinogens in their lungs, and damages their brains. These health damages have substantial costs: our research estimates more than $800 billion in annual health-related damages from death and disease amongst the American population caused by air pollution."

DR. ANDREW PERSHING: "Food production… highlights one of the insidious challenges of climate change: climate impacts will grow and compound each year until carbon pollution stops. You can see this most clearly by thinking about investments that pay out over many years. If you are contemplating planting an apple orchard, you have to consider whether those trees will be productive in the future climate. The same is true in fisheries, where investments in boats, gear, and permits depend on fish stocks remaining productive… Climate change is no longer a faraway problem. Whether it is the life-threatening heat being experienced in the West this week, more frequent billion-dollar disasters damaging crops and pushing up insurance costs, or heat in the tropics making this morning's coffee more expensive, climate change is something that every one of us experiences every day."

ANDREANECIA MORRIS: "Louisiana is often described as a canary in the coal mine for climate impacts. But today, I want to be clear: what's happening to homeowners AND renters in Louisiana is not a regional anomaly-it is a warning light for the entire country. When insurance becomes unaffordable or unavailable, it destabilizes household finances, weakens local economies, and undermines our ability to recover after disasters… Across the country, families are facing rising premiums, higher deductibles, policy non-renewals, and shrinking options. When coverage fails, mortgages are threatened, rebuilding stalls, and community institutions-from local contractors to small businesses-feel the shock. These are the not-so-hidden costs of climate change: higher operating costs for households, and systemic instability for entire regions."