The cost of climate change is showing up in city budgets, but so are solutions

The state of Minnesota spent $9 million more to plow snow in 2019 than it did the previous year. A 2018 rockslide cost St. Paul taxpayers more than $1 million. And prolonged river flooding cost those same taxpayers $3.5 million this year.

With cities bearing the cost of climate change, they can’t escape being part of the solution. Severe weather is taking out aging infrastructure, while cities are getting smarter about what they put back in.

That was the topic of a talk with St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey at the Climate Reality Leadership Corp training in Minneapolis Aug. 4. Hit play on the audio player above to hear the conversation.