Kathy Castor to host roundtable on climate change costs with Sheldon Whitehouse

Kathy Castor chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

The cost of climate change can deliver big impacts on household budgets on top of the costs to the planet.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor will host a roundtable in St. Petersburg on the personal costs of environmental woes. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat and Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, will be part of the event at the Shore Acres Recreation Center.

The Tampa Democrat’s Office said the changes to Florida’s climate play a role in the state’s rising insurance costs and could upend the state’s mortgage market as well.

The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, at 9:30 a.m. There, the federal officials will be joined by state and local officials, including state Sen. Darryl Rouson and state Rep. Lindsay Cross, both St. Petersburg Democrats. St. Petersburg City Council Member Brandi Gabbard will also participate, along with several residents and environmental experts.

Whitehouse has led multiple budget hearings on how climate change has impacted household burdens across the nation, including a June hearing featuring testimony from Florida resident Deborah Wood.

Wood, a Plantation resident, discussed how her insurance rates more than doubled, from $3,700 in 2017 to $8,000 last year. The rise has happened as multiple hurricanes hit Florida. Despite the high premiums, her family still ended up with $40,000 in bills after Hurricane Irma.

“We reluctantly have made the decision that we will not be buying a home in Florida. We’ve learned there’s no escaping the insurance problems, and weather disasters are becoming more and more prevalent, even in previously ‘safe’ areas,” Wood said.

The Senate budget committee also has held broader hearings on insurance and property markets.

Castor’s Office spotlighted public comments by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that Citizens Property Insurance, the state insurer of last resort, was no longer solvent.

Whitehouse’s committee has studied the ramifications of whether the state insurance program will need to be bailed out by the federal government if disaster losses ever exceed the ability to pay.