America’s safety net is failing to protect its most vulnerable citizens from the growing pressures of climate change, according to new research from an Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Andrew Hammond.
In a new article forthcoming in the Iowa Law Review, Hammond argues that while policymakers, the press, and the public tend to focus on climate “shocks” like hurricanes and wildfires, millions of Americans face overlooked climate “strains”—the everyday stresses of extreme heat, deteriorating air quality, and failing infrastructure that disproportionately affect low-income Americans.
Hammond’s paper, “Climate Strains and the Safety Net,” found that poor Americans are facing heightened exposure to these gradual, ongoing environmental events and changes due in large part to substandard housing, limited access to cooling technology at home, at work, or at school, and greater challenges to accessing quality health care.
“The aftereffects of climate shocks compound the challenges poor people face in dealing with climate strains,” Hammond said. “Climate-fueled disasters like hurricanes and wildfires have and will continue to affect millions of Americans, but the climate crisis will put daily pressure on millions more.”
Compounding the problem are a system of safety net programs ill-equipped to make a difference in the lives of the people they are supposed to protect.
Hammond notes the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, for example, is still mostly oriented toward cold weather help, and often excludes cooling needs during hot summer months.
Tax credits, like those included in the largely repealed Inflation Reduction Act, “sidestep poor Americans by making green investments inaccessible to those who need them most,” while regulatory efforts—like protecting households and workers from utilize disconnections and workplace hazards—have stalled at both federal and state levels.
Hammond offers suggested reforms, proposing a blueprint for reforming welfare programs, tax credits, and regulations to better address climate strains. Some of those proposals include:
- Fully funding and restructuring LIHEAP to prioritize cooling and equitable access;
- Creating refundable tax credits or targeted rebates for low-income households, including renters;
- Enacting stronger federal and state protections against utility disconnections and unsafe working conditions;
- Creating and enforcing a federal heat workplace standard; and
- Improve federal data collection on these issues and make information publicly available.
“Americans will increasingly experience the climate crisis not simply as a series of catastrophic storms and fires, but as a gradual degradation of daily life,” Hammond said. “Americans will need to spend more and more of their time and money to adapt to the realities of these climate strains, but government can help alleviate some of those issues while using fewer resources.”
Hammond is a Professor of Law and Harry T. Ice Faculty Fellow at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. His research focuses on administrative law, civil procedure, and poverty law and how legal institutions respond to poor people’s claims.