The Brian Lehrer Show

Climate Change Trade-Offs

Jun 10, 2025
Paula DiPerna, author of *Pricing the Priceless* and board chair of Humanity Insured US, tackles the complex economic trade-offs of climate change. She discusses how climate policies can burden families while advocating for solutions that prioritize long-term benefits. The conversation navigates the transition to electric vehicles and its implications for auto jobs, underscoring the need for worker retraining. DiPerna also highlights contradictions in the insurance sector facing climate disasters, calling for reforms that truly value our planet.
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INSIGHT

Value Atmosphere As Priceless

  • The atmosphere is invaluable and must be protected from waste emissions like a cosmic penthouse storing dirty diapers.
  • Working-class people bear huge uninsured losses from climate-exacerbated disasters, showing hidden costs are real and severe.
INSIGHT

GDP Undervalues Climate Costs

  • GDP metrics often overlook intangible climate change costs, so economic models understate the real harms.
  • Uninsured disaster losses fall on victims, public funds, and insurers, revealing hidden economic burdens not captured by GDP.
INSIGHT

Nature Is An Unpaid Worker

  • Nature acts as a vital unpaid worker providing services like pollination and coastal buffering.
  • Our GDP overestimates economic health by ignoring the value and degradation of these natural services.
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