Member-author's book outlines practical steps for financing climate change mitigation measures

"There are lots of people that like to talk about climate change and global warming, but there aren't an awful lot of people that really want to do something about it,” Michael Curley told the National Press Club Member Author Group as he described the problem he sought to address in his new book, "The Price of Climate Change: Sustainable Financial Mechanisms."

As the book's subtitle suggests, he didn't write about a long list of woes. Instead, Curley, a Club member and participant in the author group, details the costs involved in addressing the effects of climate change on our society and offers several practical, real-world methods of financing the measures needed to slow the progress of changes already evident, such as rising sea levels and increased extreme weather events, by reducing carbon emissions.

Curley, a lawyer and a visiting scholar at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, outlined for the group during a Nov. 30 virtual event three financing approaches he included in his book. These programs already exist and are successful, but are not as widely imitated in other parts of the country as he thinks they should be.

The first originated in Berkeley, California, where the city government lends money raised through bond issuance to homeowners for things like solar panels. This "Property Assessed Clean Energy" (PACE) program results in lower interests rates, lower monthly payments by homeowners (which are included in their tax bill), and easy transfer, since the city holds the lien on the house, meaning a new owner inherits both the solar panels and the monthly payments.

The second is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state carbon cap-and-trade market-based arrangement in the Northeast, which has successfully reduced carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, with the cost folded into customers' electric bills. Maryland, Delaware and Virginia are among the 11 states in the market.

"If you mention the words 'carbon tax' in the halls of any legislature," Curley said, "you're going to get booed out of there," but the RGGI fees customers pay are, nonetheless, a tax, he said.

Finally, Curley described “the New York Option,” whereby the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority lends money to small businesses and individuals for energy efficiency and renewable-energy projects. But the key to the program's success is that the loans are guaranteed by the Environmental Facilities Corporation, which finances the state's water projects. The water agency has a AAA bond rating, allowing the funds to be borrowed less expensively. The rationale for having the EFC's loan guarantees underlying the projects is that emissions in the air eventually pollute the water.

"I thought those stories needed to be told," Curley concluded, explaining why he wrote the book.

"The Price of Climate Change" is available from many booksellers including Amazon, Thriftbooks, Bookdepository, Biblio, Waterstones, Vitalsource, WH Smith, Ecampus, and Walmart. Taylor & Francis is the publisher, so the book is on the website of their affiliate, Routledge.

Another member of the group, Joe Luchok, introduced Curley.

The Member Author Group seeks to produce events for members to promote their recently published books. To inquire about the group, please contact Joe Motheral at [email protected]. The group meets (currently virtually) on the second Tuesday of the month at noon.