Hurricane Helene Proves There Are No Climate Havens

The nature of global warming is that it is, well, global: Nowhere will be spared. This reality makes a mockery of our geographical boundaries. But it shows how arbitrary other boundaries are, as well: specifically, the bounds of what counts as “climate policy.” Policymakers and media outlets, for example, typically treat fuel efficiency standards as climate policy. They’re less likely to view financial regulators’ intervention in insurance companies’ risky speculation that way. Yet those in the Southeast who’ll attempt to pick up the pieces over the coming weeks, months, and years will probably be less worried about miles per gallon than whether they can afford skyrocketing premiums.

In recent years, the definition of what counts as climate policy has gotten even stranger in the United States. On the campaign trail, Democrats haven’t talked about global warming all that much. To the extent that they do mention climate policy, it’s mainly discussed as a means to spur investment in low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles and solar panels. The Harris campaign’s website cites the Inflation Reduction Act’s “historic work” in “lowering household energy costs, creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality clean energy jobs, and building a thriving clean energy economy.” The site makes brief mention of increasing “resilience to climate disasters,” holding “polluters accountable,” and “continuing and building upon the United States’ international climate leadership.”

But next to images of entire downtown areas half-submerged in flood waters, or homes moving faster than a river tube, touting the administration’s successful boost of the construction of manufacturing facilities rings hollow. Framing climate action primarily as a good-news story in which the U.S. will come to dominate green export sectors overlooks the very real pocketbook struggles the climate crisis is already causing.