Gold Hill was once again surrounded by flames last year, which saw a record number of wildfires in Colorado. But angst about the immediate threat is accompanied by increasingly urgent questions for communities on the frontline of the climate crisis about the long-term financial cost of survival – who should foot the bill? Boulder county estimates it will cost taxpayers $100m over the next three decades just to adapt transport and drainage systems to the climate crisis, and reduce the risk from wildfires. “About the only thing that “Big Tobacco” and “Big Oil” have in common … are the deep pockets of the defendants,” she wrote in the Denver Post. Max Boykoff, a professor in the environmental studies department at the University of Colorado Boulder, acknowledged the problem, alongside the popularity of high fuel consumption vehicles.

Source: The Guardian August 02, 2021 09:56 UTC