Millennials and future generations will face staggering economic losses over their lifetimes due to climate change if current trends continue, according to a new report.
Demos and NextGen Climate sought to quantify the economic costs of climate change on millennials and their children.
Without significant climate change action, a 21-year-old college graduate from the class of 2015 with median earnings could lose more than $126,000 in lifetime income and $187,000 in wealth as a result of environmental problems, the report found. A 21-year-old with median earnings but no college degree stands to lose $100,000 in income and $142,000 in wealth over a lifetime.
For the entire millennial generation, the total loss of lifetime income due to climate change could hit nearly $8.8 trillion, the study showed.
“Climate change may very well be the biggest threat ever faced over the lifetime of a single generation, impacting the incomes, wealth and livelihoods of millions of millennials,” NextGen Climate President Tom Steyer said in a statement. “We have a moral responsibility to act so that our children are not crushed by the costs of climate change.”
When Illinoisans hit the polls in November, they will see a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot asking whether the state should put transportation funding in a “lockbox” so that it cannot be used for non-related spending.
A few dozen newly naturalized American citizens living in Chicago voted Tuesday afternoon for the first time in a U.S. election, casting ballots during the early voting period for the March 15 Illinois primary.