06/13/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/13/2025 16:06
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ranking Members Gabe Amo (D-RI) and Emilia Sykes (D-OH) led 64 Democratic colleagues in calling on the Acting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Laura Grimm to reinstate the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters Report to ensure America has a record of the increasing number of storms that cause catastrophic financial damage to communities.
READ THE FULL LETTER HERE.
Excerpts of the letter:
"It is clear this cancellation is just another attack in the Trump administration's crusade against climate science and NOAA. From proposing massive budget cuts to firing climate scientists to retiring multiple critical datasets and products, the Trump administration is trying to hide the true cost and impact of climate change from the American people. Preventing scientists from studying climate change and educating the public will not lessen the damage caused by more frequent extreme weather events. It will simply make us less prepared to respond to them, increasing climate change's human and economic cost."
"We cannot respond to a problem if we do not understand it. Without the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters report, it will be significantly more difficult for scientists and policymakers to understand and respond to the economic effects of climate change. Since its inception, hundreds of peer-reviewed studies have cited or used data from the report for analysis on climate impacts, economic losses, and policy recommendations. In addition to painting a picture of climate change's economic impact, the report details disaster frequency and duration trends and maps risk and vulnerability levels by county and census tract. Americans rely on this data to understand climate risks and potential insurance rates before purchasing a home."
The Members urge Acting Administrator Grimm to reinstate the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product.
Background
Climate change has caused an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters, with more and more communities facing fatalities and billions of dollars in damages caused by extreme weather.
Since 1980, 403 weather and climate disasters have causedmore than $1 billion in damage each for a cumulative total of $2.195 trillion in damage. Thanks to the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disastersreport, we know that the extreme flooding that rocked Rhode Island in December 2023 was part of a forceful East Coast storm that caused $1.3 billion in damage from Florida to Maine and took 5 lives.
###