In a recent survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, two-thirds (67%) of registered voters said climate change is affecting the cost of living in the United States. Almost the same proportion of respondents (64%) said it is affecting their own monthly expenses, especially when it comes to utility bills, groceries, vehicle costs and home insurance.
Despite the fact that global warming is a deeply polarizing issue, significant proportions of respondents on both sides of the aisle said the climate crisis is increasing the cost of living, particularly 88% of liberal Democrats, 84% of liberal/conservative Democrats, 57% of liberal/liberal Republicans, and 42% of conservative Republicans.
These voters have adopted a trend that is increasingly supported by economic research. As climate change increases extreme weather, American households are spending an average of $400 to $900 more per year, with residents in 10% of the counties spending an average of $1,300 more. This is according to a study published last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
“American households are experiencing the financial impacts of climate change in ways that are not always obvious,” co-author Christopher Knittel, associate dean of climate and sustainability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, said in a university press release. “These costs show up in different parts of people’s budgets, and over time they can become quite significant.”
burning through cash
Survey respondents who said their own monthly expenses were being affected by global warming were also asked which of their expenses were being affected. Across the political spectrum, energy costs were the most common response, followed by food, transportation, insurance, and utilities.
All of these costs are affected by climate change in different ways. Let’s start with energy. Extreme weather is increasing electricity use, damaging grid infrastructure, and disrupting energy production and distribution, creating a gap in supply and demand that is driving up energy costs.
At the same time, utility companies are being forced to spend more money on disaster recovery or preventing future damage from wildfires and hurricanes, according to the NBER study. For example, Knittel and colleagues found that Florida Power & Light customers had to pay an additional monthly fee of $12.02 for a year to fund restoration work after Hurricanes Debbie, Helene and Milton in 2024, and customers of Portland General Electric in Oregon have seen their bills increase by more than 2.5% due to wildfires in recent years.
Electricity is not the only utility becoming more expensive as the world heats up. Water bills are also rising, driven by frequent and severe droughts and infrastructure damage from storms.
Extreme weather also directly increases food costs by damaging crops, reducing agricultural yields, and disrupting supply chains. Research shows that projected warming by 2035 will increase food inflation across North America by an average of 1.4 to 1.8 percentage points per year. Extreme weather has a similar impact on transportation costs, increasing fuel prices as a result of infrastructure damage and supply chain disruptions.
And as disaster risks become more unpredictable, insurance prices are skyrocketing. The NBER study estimates that global warming contributed to an average increase of $360 in homeowners insurance premiums between 1990 and 2023.
As global temperatures continue to rise, these survey results show that a growing number of Americans are feeling its impact on their wallets. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle you’re on, climate change is coming for your cash.
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