There are numerous factors contributing to the cost of living crisis in the U.S., but a surprising number of Americans across the political spectrum believe rising global temperatures are at least partly to blame.
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. Roughly the same proportion of respondents (64%) said it is affecting their own monthly expenses, particularly 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 driving up the cost of living, specifically 88% of liberal Democrats, 84% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 57% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 42% of conservative Republicans.
These voters have picked up on a trend that’s increasingly supported by economic research. As climate change fuels extreme weather, American households are spending an additional $400 to $900 per year on average, with residents in 10% of counties spending an additional $1,300 on average. That’s according to a study published last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
“U.S. households are experiencing the financial effects of climate change in ways that aren’t always obvious,” co-author Christopher Knittel, associate dean for climate and sustainability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, said in a university press release. “These costs show up across different parts of people’s budgets, and over time they can become pretty 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 influenced by climate change in different ways. Let’s start with energy. Extreme weather is driving up power usage, damaging grid infrastructure, and disrupting energy production and distribution, creating a supply and demand gap 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 damages from wildfires and hurricanes, according to the NBER study. For example, Knittel and his colleagues found that customers of Florida Power and Light had to pay an additional monthly charge of $12.02 for one year after Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton in 2024 to fund restoration work, and Portland General Electric customers in Oregon have seen their bills increase more than 2.5% due to wildfires in recent years.
Electricity isn’t the only utility growing more expensive as the world warms. Water bills are rising too, fueled by more 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 has shown that projected warming by 2035 would drive food inflation up by 1.4 to 1.8 percentage points per year on average across North America. Extreme weather has a similar effect on transportation costs, with infrastructure damage and supply chain disruptions resulting in higher fuel prices.
And as disaster risks become more unpredictable, insurance prices are skyrocketing. The NBER study estimates that global warming contributed to an average $360 increase in homeowners’ insurance premiums between 1990 and 2023.
As global temperatures continue to rise, these survey results show that an increasing number of Americans are feeling the effect on their wallets. No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, climate change is coming for your cash.
