Climate 411

You may have seen the new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research – or, more likely, the New York Times story about it – that shows American homeowners are facing substantial and rapidly-rising home insurance premiums due to harms from climate-fueled extreme weather events.

The New York Times story, which includes state-by-state analysis, finds that rising premiums are placing severe financial burdens on Americans – doubling home insurance costs in some areas over the last several years, lowering home values by tens of thousands of dollars, and making it impossible for some Americans to purchase insurance at all.

This new reporting adds to a large and growing body of evidence showing that climate change is straining insurance, housing, and banking systems, and in turn posing financial risks to communities across the country.

At the same time Americans are facing these extensive and rising costs, the Trump administration has proposed to rescind EPA’s foundational Endangerment Finding – the bedrock determination that climate pollution harms public health and welfare – along with all of the climate pollution standards for motor vehicles that EPA has ever adopted. These reckless and deeply damaging actions will mean more pollution that is fueling extreme weather events, and thus even higher costs for Americans who are already facing runaway increases in home insurance premiums.

More pollution, more harm, higher costs

EDF’s analysis found that the Trump EPA’s proposed repeal of the Endangerment Finding and motor vehicle standards would result in as much as 18 billion more tons of climate-altering pollution as the cumulative emissions released mount over time. That’s the equivalent of three times the annual U.S. emissions today and would impose up to $3.9 trillion in climate harms on society.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans filed comments with EPA expressing strong opposition to the administration’s proposal to rescind the Endangerment Finding and the motor vehicle standards. Many of those comments underscored how it would only worsen the already high costs they are now suffering — including by raising insurance premiums.

Local, state, and federal elected representatives echoed their constituents’ concerns:

• The U.S. Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities described how the extreme weather events are pushing up insurance premiums and contributing to falling home values.
• The Mayor of Tacoma, Washington stated, “[the administration’s proposal] would lead to higher property and health insurance premiums that endanger the financial stability and health of families working day in and day out to achieve better outcomes.”
• Eight members of Florida’s Congressional delegation similarly stated, “Thousands of Florida homeowners have seen their premiums double or triple in recent years. Climate risk is driving insurance companies to raise rates or withdraw from the state entirely – seven Florida insurers became insolvent between January 2022 and February 2023, disproportionately harming homeowners who are already struggling to make ends meet.”

The administration’s proposal will impose other significant costs on Americans

Rising insurance premiums and other extensive costs from climate-fueled extreme weather events are just one of the ways the administration’s proposal will make life more expensive for Americans.

It will also:

• Raise gas prices – The Trump administration’s own analysis shows that the proposal will make gas more expensive, increasing gas prices by 25 cents per gallon in 2035 and 76 cents per gallon in 2050. The proposal will force Americans to spend up to $1.7 trillion more on gas.
• Result in job losses: The administration’s Annual Energy Outlook analysis shows that repealing the Endangerment Finding and vehicle standards will cost 450,000 jobs across the nation by 2035. Those job losses have already begun to materialize as the administration has increased its attacks on clean energy and clean vehicles. EDF released a report last week documenting $25 billion in cancelled clean energy manufacturing investments thus far in 2025, with a loss of more than 34,000 anticipated jobs. In October alone, $3.9 billion in clean energy manufacturing projects were canceled and 6,700 anticipated jobs were lost.
• Increase air pollution, harming health: The administration’s proposal would increase smog and soot-forming pollution that would lead to as many as 77,000 early deaths and 52 million more asthma attacks — health harms that would cost the nation as much as $260 billion.

If Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin moves forward with this dangerous action, it would put more deadly pollution in our air and hit Americans in their pocketbooks with higher insurance, gas and healthcare costs. Overturning the Endangerment Finding and the motor vehicle standards would put millions of people in harm’s way.