Senate Budget Committee Mulls Climate Risk to US Coastline Communities and Regions

Republicans highlight record national debt while Democrats warn of costs of inaction

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) speaks during a congressional hearing in Washington on Feb. 25, 2021. Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images

The Senate Budget Committee on March 1 heard testimony on the costs U.S. coastal communities may be facing because of shifts in the Earth’s climate.

“Coastal communities will become harder places to live and work, and real estate values and local tax bases will decline,” predicted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who now chairs the committee, in his opening remarks.