To the Editor:
In response to (John Shewchuk’s article “Hey Weather Channel what’s up with the political stuff?”) The Government Accountability Institute undertook a study of 40 major cities wherein coastal mayors claimed dire consequences (i.e. impending existential environmental threats from rising sea levels said to submerge significant portions of their cities without swift and dramatic action). Well the Government Accountability Institute wanted to see if the mayors apocalyptic projections were factored into the interest rates on the municipal bonds their cities issued?
The results revealed their was a wide gap between the words municipal leaders speak and the disclosures their cities make. The Government Accountability Institute found there was no statistically significant difference in the interest rates for bonds issued by cities in high risk locations for climate change devastation vis a vis those issued by low risk cities. The study complied 100 bond issuances for 20 cities of climate induced sea level rises such as New York and New Orleans and 100 bond issuances for 20 low risk inland cities such as Chicago and Kansas City. The bond interest rate for at risk cities was 4.21 percent vis a vis low risk cities at 3.99 percent (Peter Schweizer Government Accountability Institute WSJ Article 10/29/2019)
Dennis Petrucelli
Village of Bonnybrook