Report: Central Appalachia Could Be Safe Haven for Climate ... - Public News Service

Report Central Appalachia Could Be Safe Haven for Climate Change Migrants / Public News Service

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Report: Central Appalachia Could Be Safe Haven for Climate-Change Migrants
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According to a report by Invest Appalachia, the Appalachian region compares favorably to the Great Lakes region and parts of New England in terms of anticipated weather impacts and status as a climate haven. (Adobe Stock)

A recent American Farmland Trust survey revealed that over 50% of farmers surveyed sought conservation education from another farmer, versus 20% who looked for help from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Adobe Stock)

Fossil fuel pollution needs to be cut by 45 percent by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050, to avoid catastrophic impacts of a warming planet. (Adobe Stock)

Credit unions are lending to households and small businesses to install solar and other improvements, which are costly up front, loans frequently considered too small by bigger banks. (Adobe Stock)
By Janie Ekere for The Daily Yonder. Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Kentucky News Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

A new report from Invest Appalachia, a self-described social investment fund, looks at ways to bring economic development to Central Appalachia as climate change increasingly determines where Americans live.

The report released in May analyzed emerging climate data from Appalachia. According to its findings, Central Appalachian states like Kentucky and North Carolina will likely see a population increase due to climate change-related migration. Mild temperatures, high elevation, and abundant rainfall make the region well-suited geographically to accommodate this population influx.

“Some of the data we included in the report shows that the region actually compares really favorably to the Great Lakes region, parts of New England in terms of actual anticipated weather impacts and status as a climate haven,” Andrew Crosson, CEO of Invest Appalachia and co-author of the report, said in a phone interview. Crosson co-wrote the report with Invest Appalachia’s director of community impact Baylen Campbell and the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies’ outreach and engagement specialist Nicholas Shanahan.

The report included a map that identified counties with “climate receiving” geographies based on a set of nine different climate risk factors. As more people are expected to leave states like California and Texas in the coming years, the map projected the Great Lakes and Appalachia as likely “climate receiver” regions (marked in blue).

Most of the available climate receiving data that Invest Appalachia’s researchers reviewed has focused on states like Michigan and Wisconsin. These states possess robust urban infrastructure in addition to geographic advantages similar to those of Appalachia. Like these states, Appalachia’s population has grown in response to both the pandemic and climate change, the report found. But little climate research has focused on the region, especially rural parts of the region, up until now.

“We basically call for more study of that topic, both of understanding the factors that will be driving climate migration into the Appalachian region, but also situating Appalachia within the national dialogue as a region that is going to be critical along with some other rural parts of the country. It’s gonna be critical to national-scale climate resilience as a population-absorbing region.”

There are still significant challenges to climate change adaptation in rural Appalachia, according to the report. Available climate data for the region has focused on historical records and has not been adequately updated to reflect emerging climate patterns. Though its geography provides better overall protection against climate catastrophes, Central Appalachia is still seeing increased temperatures and flooding due to climate change. A record-breaking flood in July 2022 in East Kentucky, for example, killed 45 people and displaced thousands more. The region is also still recovering from the effects of the fossil fuel-based economy.

“Landscapes have been altered by extractive industries in ways that it has now been proven exacerbates flooding,” Crosson said. “Surface mining, strip mining, lack of proper remediation/reclamation work means that there’s less absorptive capacity, that streams are disrupted from their normal flows. All of that exacerbated the effects of the massive rainfall events in eastern Kentucky that led to the [recent] flooding.”

The report also found that not all Central Appalachian communities can handle the potential population increase equally. The influx of higher-income inhabitants from other states could lead to rising rent and housing prices as demand outstrips supply. Marginalized people in rural areas may face the risk of homelessness or may be forced to move to areas with fewer protections from climate change as a result of gentrification, according to the report.

“Once you have compounding climate impacts, and then you have climate migration on top of that, the people who are going to suffer the most…are the same as the people who are going to suffer from climate-driven rural gentrification,” Crosson said.

While the report called for further research of the region to develop strategies for climate adaptation, it proposed measures that can be taken now toward this goal. Rural Appalachia has faced a long-term lack of government and private sector investment in basic infrastructure and community services which leaves little funding for climate adaptive measures. Reversing that underinvestment is a critical first step in building lasting climate resilience, the report found.

“When you have a chronically disinvested region, the perception of risk — the perception of not being investible — is something that has to be overcome,” Crosson said. “We’re trying to…show outside funders and investors in particular that this is the region of innovation. A region where people have a vision and they need the resources to execute on that vision.”

New federal legislation aims to help farmers in Maine and elsewhere share their knowledge of conservation practices as they face an increasing number of climate change-related weather events.

The "Farmer To Farmer Education Act" would help build and support farmer-led education networks so new farmers can learn from those more experienced in coping with droughts or floods.

Erin Foster West - policy coordination and management director at the National Young Farmers Coalition - said while government agents can offer support, many farmers prefer learning from friends and neighbors they trust.

"You know a lot of young farmers are really motivated to have ecological stewardship on their farms and ranches," said Foster West, "but they may not have that knowledge."

Foster-West said farmer-led education can help newcomers ensure they understand the risks, costs and best practices - to ensure they can remain farming for years to come.

The legislation also aims to increase networking opportunities for Black, indigenous or non-English speaking farmers who may not have the same access to information or technical assistance.

Foster-West said when it comes to fighting climate change, farmers need all solutions on the table.

"We want to make sure we fill that gap that the U.S. Department of Agriculture can't provide," said Foster West, "because they don't hold that traditional ecological knowledge or they don't have the right information in the right language."

Foster West said the legislation will help build cross-cultural learning to improve America's farmland soil health.

The most recent USDA Census of Agriculture found that cover crops - a key conservation practice - were only planted on 6% of cropland acres.

The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission has adopted a new rule requiring direct measurement of methane emissions at oil and gas sites, a move welcomed by environmental and local government groups, and industry.

Joe Antus - the executive director of the Signal Tech Coalition - said the new rule will help lower the amount of methane, the primary component of natural gas, lost at oil and gas sites.

It can also kickstart a key tactic for turning the tide on climate change.

"Methane is 80% more effective at trapping heat than CO2," said Antus. "It accounts for 25% of today's global warming. And there are quick, cost-effective ways to slow the rate of global warming just by tackling methane now."

Colorado's Front Range air quality has been repeatedly downgraded by the Environmental Protection Agency, most recently from "serious" to "severe" due to health threatening ozone levels.

Oil and gas emissions are a significant contributor to ozone pollution. The new rule requires oil and gas operators to demonstrate, with real-world data, that they are meeting emission reduction standards.

Colorado has taken a leadership role in regulating methane, which has created new technologies that allow operators to find and fix leaks, and bring more gas to market.

Antus said the new rule will send a clear signal to the market that demand for this technology will be on the rise, which could open the door for investors to deploy the capital necessary to reduce methane pollution at scale.

"This first step," said Antus, "will be giving appropriate guidelines of how you want to measure methane, how to do that effectively, and how to make that economically compelling for investors."

Emissions from fossil fuels need to be cut by 45% by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050, to avoid catastrophic impacts of a warming planet - according to the world's top scientists.

Antus said facing the task of reducing emissions fast enough can feel overwhelming.

"This is really exciting because we're able to make a lot of these changes quickly," said Antus. "It's not going to cost a lot of money. It's cost effective, and in fact it's going to invest in Colorado technologies."

July was the hottest month in recorded history, and a Colorado credit union is finding creative ways for low-income and other vulnerable residents to stay cool in summer and warm in winter.

They are also investing in projects to reduce or eliminate the need to burn fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change.

Nicole Burford, director of marketing and sustainability for Clean Energy Credit Union, explained their mission.

"We solely loan for clean energy and energy saving projects," Burford emphasized. "Residential solar, geothermal, electric vehicles, e-bikes and then green home improvements."

Home energy use accounts for about 20% of climate pollution. More affluent households able to afford upfront costs for solar panels and other improvements can get Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.

Burford pointed out her team is creating partnerships with nonprofits and local governments to make it possible for people traditionally left out of large-scale federal investments, including people of color and low-income families, to switch to clean energy and lower their utility bills.

The world's leading climate scientists have warned climate pollution needs to be cut by 45% by 2030, and reach net-zero by 2050, to avoid catastrophic impacts of a warming planet.

Burford noted credit unions are in a unique position to get solutions into homes, but more investments at the federal level will be necessary to address the scale of the challenge.

"We're doing a lot of training with other credit unions, other organizations on how they can develop programs like this, how they can partner with different organizations as well," Burford stressed. "Because no one organization can do it alone."

Burford added her credit union has invested more than $200 million so far in clean energy and other green loans for member households across the country. The investment has offset more than 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide, roughly the same as taking 161,000 gas-powered vehicles off the road.

"We actually have a carbon offset calculator on our website as well," Burford stated. "If you are opening an account with us, you can put in the average amount of dollars that you'll have in your account and you can see how much you are helping to offset. So it kind of personalizes it to each individual."