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Which U.S. Cities Are Safest From Climate Change? - YouTube
Channel: CNBC
[1]
We already are experiencing
climate change.
[4]
This is not our
grandchildren. This is
[6]
today. This is right now.
[10]
Some of us are in aircraft
carriers and some of us are
[12]
in dinghies as it goes.
[13]
It was very intense to live
in a place where wildfires
[17]
were becoming an everyday,
very normal reality.
[21]
Natural disasters hit nearly
one in ten American homes in
[24]
2021, leading to an
estimated $56.92 billion in
[29]
property damage.
[30]
We're fighting systems and
laws and policies that don't
[34]
quite fit the new climate
reality.
[36]
One of the biggest issues
with climate change is that
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people have been living in
riskier environments.
[41]
Think a coastal community
or a mountain house
[43]
surrounded by a dry forest.
[47]
Nowhere is completely safe
from climate change, but
[49]
there is some good news.
[50]
Adaptation efforts are
working and there are some
[53]
places where Americans can
move to escape the worst
[56]
impacts of climate
disasters.
[58]
There are cities that are
going to fare better under
[61]
climate conditions and are
already.
[64]
These cities, particularly
around the Great Lakes, I
[65]
think are considered to
have some superior
[68]
advantage.
[69]
But with home prices soaring
nationally, location isn't
[71]
the only factor in finding
a safe haven.
[74]
Issues of justice and equity
have to be addressed now
[78]
before mass migration start
moving to haven cities.
[81]
You can't just say I'm a
climate destination because
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I'm in Wisconsin and we're
going to be fine.
[88]
That's absolutely not true.
[89]
You must earn it.
[90]
It's not a passive title.
[93]
So where can Americans go to
escape climate change and
[96]
can we afford to live
there?
[100]
Researchers have designated
some cities as climate
[104]
havens or climate
destinations.
[106]
Unfortunately, they don't
include major cities like
[109]
LA, San Francisco or where
I live in Brooklyn, New
[112]
York.
[113]
I would define a climate
destination as a location
[116]
that has perhaps more
manageable climate impacts.
[120]
That is, there's no
exposure to sea level rise.
[123]
There's less risk of
wildfires and hurricanes.
[127]
They have a ready access to
fresh water, and they may be
[131]
a legacy city, which means
that they have a history of
[134]
being built out for a much
larger population.
[138]
Marandi also requires
climate destinations to have
[141]
plans to decarbonize and
address affordable housing.
[143]
Jesse Keenan identified a
few lucky cities that meet
[147]
these criteria.
[148]
So in the United States, a
variety of different cities
[151]
have strengths and
weaknesses in terms of their
[153]
capacity to onboard climate
migrants.
[155]
But some of those that come
to mind are Asheville, North
[158]
Carolina. Knoxville,
Tennessee.
[160]
Toledo, Ohio, Duluth,
Minnesota, Buffalo, New
[163]
York, Rochester, New York,
Burlington, Vermont.
[166]
Keenan also sees promise in
Detroit, Pittsburgh, Madison
[170]
and Milwaukee and
Minneapolis.
[171]
Marandi and her research
partner have added to that
[174]
list. Cincinnati, Ohio,
Charleston, South Carolina,
[177]
Chico, California, which
absorbed many migrants
[180]
fleeing the camp fire in
2018.
[183]
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
[184]
And maybe surprisingly,
Orlando, Florida.
[187]
You would say, Oh, well,
they're in Florida.
[189]
They must be high risk.
[190]
And yes, there are some
risks.
[192]
But again, like Cincinnati,
Orlando is working really
[195]
hard to decarbonize and
they're doing it in such a
[199]
big way. They're really
growing their green economy.
[202]
They're looking at their
affordable housing.
[205]
They are in quite a housing
crunch right now, but
[207]
they're very aware of it.
[208]
They're working on it.
[210]
Affordable housing is a key
ingredient in all of this.
[212]
About half of Americans say
affordable housing is a
[215]
major problem in their
local community.
[217]
Maggie Lawson, a chef and
visual artist, moved to
[220]
Cincinnati from Oakland in
2020.
[222]
What made you move from
Oakland to Cincinnati?
[226]
Many, many things, as one
might imagine, because
[229]
they're very different
cities and very different
[231]
lifestyle. I think the
first thing was just my
[234]
housing was not tenable.
[236]
I had roommates and I was
approaching 40 and I was
[240]
like, This is not the life
for me.
[243]
I couldn't afford to buy a
house.
[245]
Lawson also wanted to be
able to support her aging
[248]
parents financially and
cannot do so in the
[250]
competitive financial
environment of Oakland.
[252]
She was also concerned
about the impact of
[255]
wildfires on her parent's
health.
[257]
The smoke just descends on
the city for weeks on end
[260]
and it's really
unpredictable.
[261]
She grew up about 45 minutes
outside of Cincinnati and
[264]
went to undergrad there.
[266]
I didn't envision moving
back.
[267]
It was kind of a surprise
to me when I decided to do
[269]
that.
[269]
That type of move is
consistent with Miranda's
[272]
research.
[273]
People go to where they have
people.
[274]
But Lawson's move is
exceptional for its
[276]
distance.
[277]
Most people tend to make
moves in their own county.
[282]
The problem arises when you
consider that about 30% of
[285]
Americans live on a coast.
[287]
We could expect up to 63
million people who live
[292]
in the low elevation
coastal zone to need to
[295]
either move or relocate
somewhere else.
[298]
So there are a lot of
people at risk.
[301]
Places like my community in
South Louisiana are going to
[304]
be taken by the sea.
[306]
So people are going to have
to figure out what to do.
[310]
Some experts like Kenan
suggests moving from, say,
[313]
Miami to Duluth.
[315]
Check out his proposed ad
campaign for the Minnesotan
[318]
Winter.
[318]
No amount of marketing
campaign is going to shape
[321]
the decisions that you make
in the immediate aftermath
[324]
of a disaster. I know I
myself have been displaced
[327]
right now from Hurricane
Ida.
[330]
It's not easy, but I think
we have to think in the long
[333]
term and recognize that
we're going to build a
[336]
community for today.
[337]
And that's going to be the
foundation for the building
[340]
of a community for
tomorrow.
[343]
Climate havens like
Cincinnati have been
[345]
investing in infrastructure
to support a new wave of
[348]
residents while building
for a low carbon future.
[351]
I see climate migration as
an opportunity for these
[354]
cities to avoid the
mistakes of urban sprawl.
[358]
They often have a vibrant,
walkable downtown that might
[362]
just need a little bit of
revitalization.
[364]
And so I live in this really
progressive little
[366]
neighborhood and we have a
really sweet farmers market.
[369]
It's not huge, but people
are really invested in it.
[371]
So some of the farmers that
I'm partnering with and I'm
[374]
working with in my business
have stands there and have
[376]
gotten to know them through
that space.
[378]
Climate havens create
opportunities for new and
[380]
existing residents to work
together and established
[383]
farmers market, like the
one Lawson goes to, is a
[385]
great example. Big
employers also referred to
[387]
as anchor institutions like
hospitals or universities,
[391]
can play a major role.
[392]
How can we help people who
are already in these cities
[396]
in the receiving zones? We
don't want them to be
[398]
crowded out. How can we
think about jobs, the tax
[400]
base? All of this is part
of a broader economic
[403]
development strategy,
again, to think about a
[405]
sustainable economy.
[407]
Migration is not a problem
to be dealt with.
[410]
Migration is a natural way
of being as humans, and it's
[413]
one that we're going to
have to reconsider.
[415]
We don't question wealthy
people who go to their
[418]
summer houses around their
migration patterns, but
[421]
that's exactly what they're
doing. Migration is quite
[423]
natural. It's only
questioned based on your
[427]
income level and your skin
color.
[429]
And this is where we have
to do a lot of educating our
[432]
society and our community
and even shifting how we
[435]
look at migration.
[436]
What can local governments
do?
[438]
They can prepare, they can
start having these
[440]
conversations, they can
invest in their affordable
[442]
housing. They can start
preparing for their own
[445]
climate risks so that even
if they are in taking more
[448]
people, they are still
prepared.
[451]
This is an opportunity for
us to show the best of who
[454]
we are as a human society,
as a nation, and as
[457]
individual communities who
are stepping up.
[459]
It's really about building
communities and people are
[463]
going to come in.
[464]
And one of the things that
helps bridge our society
[467]
together is our ability to
accommodate newcomers.
[470]
This is the story of
America.
[471]
It's the story of
immigration in America.
[473]
So should we start packing
now?
[475]
I wouldn't urge anyone to
move immediately unless
[478]
they're under immediate
threat. But I would say
[480]
start to look at your risk.
[482]
It's often a confluence of
events that force people to
[486]
move.
[487]
After three years of really
intense fire seasons, I was
[491]
really clear that a the
cost of living was not
[493]
manageable and being in
that environment was really
[498]
hard on my nervous system
and you just don't really
[500]
understand the long term
impacts that like wildfires
[504]
can have on your body.
[505]
Lawson felt being unable to
afford the life she wanted
[508]
in California, coupled with
the unpredictable fire
[510]
season, the time had come
to leave.
[513]
That process has to be one
rooted in autonomy of
[517]
something that I've had to
learn.
[518]
You know, not everybody is
going to move.
[520]
Not everybody wants to
move.
[521]
Some people's identity is
tied to a place and some
[524]
people's life is tied to a
place.
[526]
If you're really relying on
this house as a nest egg,
[529]
you're a homeowner.
[530]
Equity is part of your
investment strategy.
[533]
You may very well want to
consider moving much sooner
[536]
than later because your
investment is declining.
[538]
If it's in a high risk area
such as a sea level rise
[541]
zone, it is declining.
[542]
Now on an annual basis.
[544]
You can look at FEMA flood
maps, you can look at first
[547]
three foundation, maybe one
day when you're bored, just
[550]
like, oh, let's look at our
flood risk, honey.
[553]
Right? And then you can if
you're informed, you can
[557]
start making decisions.
[559]
But not everyone can afford
to move, even if they want
[561]
to.
[562]
There's a lot of costs that
come, including the cost of
[566]
being removed from your
loved ones and from your
[568]
friends, those that loss of
social capital.
[571]
But there's also benefits,
and that's the benefit of
[573]
being part of a new
community. That's the
[575]
benefit of rebuilding
something or building
[577]
something that is truly
sustainable, walking away
[580]
from our high carbon
lifestyle into a low carbon
[583]
lifestyle.
[583]
When we think about people
having the autonomy to move
[587]
right now, we've got to
understand what we're
[588]
saying. We're talking about
people with wealth.
[590]
What keeps a lot of us up at
night is that a market
[594]
driven retreat will leave a
ton of
[598]
impoverished people behind.
[600]
So there's a huge risk in
not sort of
[605]
doing this managed or
planned relocation ahead of
[610]
time.
[610]
If cities want to do climate
migration right, there are a
[614]
few things they need to
start thinking about now.
[616]
One is, yes, where are the
opportunities?
[619]
A simple repurposing of
land that has already been
[624]
made for some sort of mass
development.
[627]
The other thing we need to
really keep in mind is what
[631]
is going to happen in the
long term to the residents
[633]
who are already there.
[634]
And this is work, this is
education.
[637]
This is setting up
programs, not social
[640]
programs that give.
[642]
People charity, but instead
socializing and caring
[646]
programs that give people
power and connection into a
[649]
new community. And third, I
think we're going to have to
[653]
respect culture that comes
in.
[654]
I mean, we have to be able
to move from a place of our
[658]
own power in receiving
folks in power, receiving
[662]
folks with dignity and
receiving folks honoring
[665]
their own autonomy and
honoring ours and making
[668]
sure that the resources
that we have together,
[670]
culture, water and
everything in between are
[674]
ours collectively.
[676]
There are lots of structural
changes that residents can
[679]
do to increase the life
cycle of a community.
[681]
For example, when I was
reporting on hurricanes and
[684]
sea level rise in Miami
Beach, Florida, residents
[688]
were elevating their homes
to avoid the rising seas.
[691]
And in fact, there's many
infrastructure possibilities
[694]
that we can do to
particularly with water and
[697]
as well as extreme heat,
for instance, with extreme
[699]
heat, planting more trees
and building more biomass to
[702]
help cool and shelter us in
the shade.
[705]
But on a bigger scale,
reducing our carbon
[708]
emissions will help stem
the flow of climate
[710]
migrants.
[711]
One of our best defenses
against large scale
[715]
displacement is climate
mitigation, which means
[718]
reducing our emissions.
[720]
So we cannot just continue
to fill this bathtub full of
[724]
water.
[725]
What do we do to get people
out of harm's way as we stop
[728]
fossil fuel drilling, as we
stop the extraction?
[731]
That is how we get people
out of harm's way.
[734]
Local municipalities can
also make smart choices to
[736]
make it easier for
residents to lower their
[739]
carbon footprints.
[740]
When we're thinking about
what is this community
[744]
preparing for for the next
ten years or 20 years,
[747]
perhaps elevating homes
does the trick.
[752]
But when you're talking
about 50 to 100 years, which
[754]
is very, very difficult for
communities to
[757]
conceptualize, some of
these fixes are maybe not
[760]
the best idea. They may
give that false impression
[763]
of security.
[764]
But I think now is the time
for greater engagement and
[767]
democratic processes to
hold and really participate,
[771]
not just hold leaders
accountable, but participate
[773]
in the process of
envisioning what you want
[776]
your city to look like.
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