The administrative and financial costs of disaster recovery have increased in recent years, exacerbated by the changing climate. The 122 separate billion-dollar disasters occurring between 2016 and 2022 in the U.S. represented more than $1 trillion in damages and claimed 5,000 lives. A significant portion of that expense was incurred by seven Category 4 and 5 hurricanes that made landfall in the Ten Across region or along the Atlantic Coast. 
 
Yet this figure doesn’t begin to encapsulate the full range of climate-related losses in the U.S., nor the less visible but steadily accumulating costs of adapting infrastructure to withstand more frequent and destructive weather events.  
 
Federal legislation has moved toward addressing these potential risks to the built enviornment, human health, and the economy. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and 2022 Inflation Reduction Act represent the largest surge in climate action funding in U.S. history. Combined, they account for a trillion dollars of investments over ten years. The funding incentivizes all sectors to build climate security by scaling up the clean energy economy and redressing environmental and economic injustices, past and present.   
 
Listen in as Ten Across founder Duke Reiter and Xavier de Souza Briggs, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro and member of the Biden-Harris transition team, discuss the strategy behind these dollars and what gaps remain to be addressed to ensure greater climate resilience and equity within this corridor and the nation.  

Articles/sources referenced in this podcast:  
“Community Development in the Critical Climate Decade” (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2024, Briggs and Donovan)  

“America is witnessing the birth of a new industrial policy. Here’s how to make sure it benefits workers and entrepreneurs across the country, not just a handful of superstar urban regions” (Fortune Magazine, September 2022, Briggs and Muro)  

 “Arizona Voters’ Agenda: Voters Want to Protect Environment, Addressing Forest Fires and Air Quality Among Priorities” (Center for the Future of Arizona, June 2022)

 “A More Democratic Federalism?” (Democracy Fall 2021 issue, Briggs and Rogers)  

The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America (2005) by Xavier de Souza Briggs