Confronting Wisconsin’s Climate Costs

Wisconsin taxpayers will need to spend at least $16.7 billion through 2040 to protect communities from climate change, with municipal governments bearing the vast majority of these costs ($14.1 billion). The most significant expenses include improving stormwater management ($6.67 billion) and proactive road maintenance ($5.09 billion). The report highlights that these costs fall disproportionately on high racial minority areas and low-education rural communities, potentially consuming a significant portion of local public works budgets. It argues that fossil fuel companies should be held legally accountable for these damages.

• Wisconsin taxpayers are estimated to spend at least $16.7 billion through 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, heavy precipitation, and public health threats.
• The most expensive adaptation measure is improving stormwater management to mitigate flooding, costing $6.67 billion through 2040. This cost is disproportionately higher in municipalities with high racial minority populations, where average per capita costs are $2,464 compared to the statewide average of $1,579.
• Proactive road maintenance is the second costliest adaptation at $5.09 billion through 2040. Choosing proactive repairs over reactive repairs could save taxpayers approximately $1.55 billion.
• Climate adaptation costs may severely strain or exceed municipal budgets. In cities like Oshkosh, Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Sheboygan, the annual cost of seven key adaptation measures would account for more than half of their annual Public Works Department budgets.
• Protecting rural communities from flooding is particularly burdensome for low-education areas, where the average per capita cost ($1,068) is more than five times the statewide average ($199).
• Temperature-related adaptations, including planting urban tree canopies ($2.56 billion) and installing air conditioning in public buildings ($810.4 million), total $3.3 billion. Costs for tree planting and maintenance are 1.2 times higher in high racial minority and high poverty areas compared to the statewide average.
• The federal government is responsible for $592 million in costs to treat three climate-induced public health threats through 2040: Lyme disease ($347.8 million), West Nile Virus ($208.8 million), and pediatric asthma ($35.5 million).
• Coastal erosion and lake level changes are projected to cost $293 million through 2040 to protect infrastructure within 250 feet of the Great Lakes coastline.
• American Indian Nations in Wisconsin face an estimated $108 million in infrastructure adaptation costs through 2040, with road maintenance being the largest expense at $98 million.
• The report argues that fossil fuel companies, specifically mentioning ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP, should be held legally accountable for these costs due to their history of climate deception.

APA

Center for Climate Integrity (2024). Confronting Wisconsin’s Climate Costs. https://climateintegrity.org/uploads/media/Wisconsin-ClimateCostStudy-2024.pdf

Chicago

Center for Climate Integrity. Confronting Wisconsin’s Climate Costs. 2024. https://climateintegrity.org/uploads/media/Wisconsin-ClimateCostStudy-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for Climate Integrity |title=Confronting Wisconsin’s Climate Costs |date=June 2024 |url=https://climateintegrity.org/uploads/media/Wisconsin-ClimateCostStudy-2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforclimateintegrity2024confronting, author = {{Center for Climate Integrity}}, title = {{Confronting Wisconsin’s Climate Costs}}, institution = {Center for Climate Integrity}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://climateintegrity.org/uploads/media/Wisconsin-ClimateCostStudy-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }