"Big business keeps making claims about how much it will cost to tackle the problem of global warming. What about the cost to Americans if we do not tackle this problem? If we do not act now, the world’s climate experts tell us that the weather may be even more extreme in the future," said Katherine Silverthorne of U.S. PIRG.

The report compiles and analyses data on economic loss, insured loss and federal disaster aid due to extreme weather related disasters this year. Federal disaster aid information includes data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Farm Service Agency. The report does not include data on disaster spending from Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Highway Administration, or state emergency management offices.

"Something strange is happening," said Leigh Hauter of Bull Run Mountain Organic Farms. "Last winter the ground did not freeze on my farm; not once. That has never happened in my memory."

Among the findings of the report are:

• Extreme weather in the U.S. between January and July of 1998 resulted in the death of 376 people and caused $14.5 billion in economic loss.
• The average number of disaster declarations has increased from 25 per year between 1979-1983 to 46.6 per year between 1994-1998 -- an 86% increase.
• Worldwide, the economic loss related to natural catastrophes in the last ten years is 8.5 times the cost in the 1960’s (adjusted to present value).
• American communities experienced more than $5.3 billion of insured losses due to weather-related events in the first eight months of 1998.
• The U.S. government spent more than $1.3 billion in disaster assistance in the first eight months of 1998.
• The damage was not centralized in one area of the country. The five states receiving the most compensation for weather related damage were, in descending order, Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Tennessee, and New York.

Recognizing that no single storm can be attributed to global warming, U.S. PIRG argues that the growing toll of extreme weather on America’s communities should make combating global warming a top priority for Congress.

"People around the country are suffering -- losing homes, businesses, and in the worst cases, even loved ones. Yet, Rather than confront the problem of global warming, many in Congress are actively blocking even small steps to reduce emissions," said Silverthorne. "Global warming is a three alarm blaze and instead of calling the fire department Congress is fanning the flames."

US PIRG called on Congress to limit the greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, to stop prohibiting the Department of Transportation from updating fuel efficiency standards for cars and sport utility vehicles, and to shift funding away from polluting fossil fuels and toward renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. In the United States, power plants, automobiles and sport utility vehicles are the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. However, the U.S. currently has no limits on the amount of carbon dioxide vehicles and power plants can emit.

At the international Climate Summit last December in Kyoto, Japan, nations agreed to reduce the emissions of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming. However, many important details remain to be decided. A major international meeting to begin to hammer out the details will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 2-13, 1998.

"We are on the eve of the next round of international global warming negotiations," said Silverthorne. "When the American delegation goes to Buenos Aires next month, they should represent the interests of the American people, not the polluters. They should commit to cut global warming pollution in the United States and to sign the Kyoto Protocol as a signal of our commitment to find an international answer to the problem of global warming."

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U.S. PIRG is the national lobbying office for the state PIRGs. PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan watchdog organizations that conduct research and public education on environmental, consumer and democracy issues.