The Housing and Climate Crisis

Written by Elizabeth Adijuah

The Housing and Climate Crisis Contrary to popular belief, the climate crisis is all encompassing. It will not only affect this country not only environmentally but economically. Working class folks will bear the brunt of climate change while wealthy people may be a bit uncomfortable. One way the climate crisis will impact working class people is through housing. Currently in the United States, a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour cannot rent an affordable two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country.. This will not get any better due to the rising sea levels. Coastal communities have to relocate from their current location but this will not be easy with the already existing housing crisis. However with the existent housing crisis and climate crisis we have an opportunity to provide good green affordable housing that provides people shelter but also does not contribute to the climate crisis.

Currently, California has become one of the most unaffordable states to live in. In California, renters pay 40% the nationwide median and 30 percent of mortgaged homeowners and 46 percent of renters spend more than 35 percent of their total household income on housing. As a result, many people have to choose between which basic necessities they spend their money on and often have to live in horrible conditions. People also work multiple jobs in order to pay rent and acquire their basic needs. However, even with taking those drastic actions many people end up becoming houseless. Affordable housing is also becoming hard to come by in places which were previously deemed affordable. Sacramento, for example, is dealing with some of the sharpest gains that have occurred due to the exodus of folks living in the bay area as the average rent amount in San Francisco, for example, is $3,629 per apartment. Most people cannot afford this amount of rent but when people migrate to places like Sacramento, they can pay higher prices for rent than those in Sacramento. They end up hiking up prices in cities like Sacramento, which the average amount of money it costs to rent an apartment in Sacramento is $1,438, a 5% increase compared to the previous year. This pushes families out of neighborhoods they have already been living in and makes it impossible for people to find affordable living arrangements. Therefore in this housing crisis show a multi dimensional problem that must be solved with multi dimensional solutions.

On top of a housing crisis, there is an existent climate crisis. Because of rising sea levels, ocean water is coming into the streets and homes of coastal communities. This affects many public housing complexes which have been built on unsafe locations like drained swamplands, unprotected coastal and riverine landscapes, and flood-prone areas. This means that these communities will have to locate towards higher ground and leave flood plans. However it is easier said than done. It will take a lot of money and a lot of government assistance. However the federal government has neglected public housing. As Julian Brave NoiseCat and Daniel Aldana Cohen state, “the United States has dismantled public housing and has rewir[ed] neighborhoods to Wall Street incentives.” In addition to this predicament, people need to keep in mind that rich coastal communities will be able to relocate easier to higher ground because of their easier access to resources but also because the government prioritizes them by subsidizing upper-class homeowners through the mortgage interest tax deduction. Also, because of their high income, it will be easier for them to move to higher ground and as a result, housing prices will increase, displacing already established communities. Working class communities are already dealing with a precarious public housing situation while also fighting climate gentrification without governmental support.

However, there are a few politicians who are acknowledging the intersection with the climate crisis and the housing crisis. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have come up with a piece of legislation called the Green New Deal for public housing. This plan is a $172 billion, to build 1.2 million units of public housing in 10 years. Buildings including homes account for 40 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions. The Green New Deal for public housing aims to cut down the amount of energy that is used by upgrading appliances, energy efficient light bulbs and installing low flow toilets. Elizabeth Warren has also introduced some plans on public housing. She wants to make sure that public housing units are prioritized for retrofitting through her 100% Clean Energy for America plan because more efficient homes mean lower energy bills for working class families, wants to invest in new residential buildings to have zero carbon pollution by 2028 in new public housing development, and also supports the Green New Deal For Public Housing. However many politicians have not talked about the intersection between the climate crisis and public housing even when there is popular support for a green new deal for public housing (it has a net positive support, 46 percent to 35 percent). In order for these plans to gain more momentum, there needs to be more politicians and movement leaders talking about this issue and building strong support on the ground, especially in the state of California where housing is hard to come by. If politicians are not able to connect the climate crisis with a housing crisis, many people will be left vulnerable.

Currently, the state of California is dealing with a housing crisis. People can barely afford to rent an apartment and get their basic necessities. However many Californian cities are located only on the coast who are very vulnerable to the rising sea levels and the climate crisis. Working class communities will have a harder time rebuilding their lives and relocating to safer areas due to natural disasters while affluent communities have the resources and closer government attention. Also many public housing complexes will also be affected due to their dangerous locations and because of the lack of government interest and investment. Sadly many politicians have not been paying attention to this issue, and climate movements have not built a lot of momentum either. The lack of awareness leaves many many communities in peril and makes an existential crisis known as climate change even worse than it already is. However people should not become cynical. It will take collaboration with mayors, state senators, and congressional representatives in order to achieve this goal. People can fight the climate crisis and the housing crisis in order to create a better world.