Coal-reliant communities are at an increased risk of fiscal collapse not just because of coal's decline and the prospect of tighter climate policies, but because local governments often fail to consider or disclose these threats in their municipal-bond filings, according to a newly published study from Columbia University and the Brookings Institution.
Even "moderately stringent" climate policies could create "existential risks" for the coal industry, which employs 53,000 workers in the U.S., and that would further threaten coal-reliant counties' ability to pay outstanding bond debt, Adele Morris, Noah Kaufman and Siddhi Doshi report.
Since there is growing support nationwide for stricter climate policy, it would be wise for coal-reliant counties and communities to try to diversify their economies. Federal investment and support may be required to make that happen, Morris, Kaufman and Doshi report. One logical source for such funding, they say, would be a tax on carbon emissions.
Even "moderately stringent" climate policies could create "existential risks" for the coal industry, which employs 53,000 workers in the U.S., and that would further threaten coal-reliant counties' ability to pay outstanding bond debt, Adele Morris, Noah Kaufman and Siddhi Doshi report.
Since there is growing support nationwide for stricter climate policy, it would be wise for coal-reliant counties and communities to try to diversify their economies. Federal investment and support may be required to make that happen, Morris, Kaufman and Doshi report. One logical source for such funding, they say, would be a tax on carbon emissions.
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