10 U.S. states least-prepared for climate change and extreme weather

Whether they are the result of climate change or just freaks of nature, disasters can be costly. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information estimate that weather and climate disasters in the U.S. did nearly $93 billion in damage last year.

“There’s really no place in the country that doesn’t have risk,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications for First Street Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. “As you start to look at the multiple hazards, wildfire, wind, flood, extreme heat, then you start to understand that these hazards touch all parts of the country.”

Some states are more vulnerable than others. And even some of those that aren’t are not doing all they can to mitigate the risks.

“You need to have power. You need to have water,” said Maria Lehman, Director of U.S. Infrastructure for global engineering firm GHD, and 2023 president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “If it doesn’t work, that adds cost, and when it adds cost, you’re not as economically competitive.”

Companies know this, which is why they increasingly look at a state’s sustainability and resilience when deciding where to locate.

And it is why CNBC factored sustainability into the all-important Infrastructure category of this year’s America’s Top States for Business study. Under this year’s methodology, Infrastructure is the heaviest weighted category, accounting for 17% of a state’s overall ranking.

We looked at factors including state-level figures provided by First Street for properties at risk of major damage from flooding, extreme heat, wildfires and wind in the next 30 years.

We also considered National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data on extreme weather for the primary geographic regions in which state are situated, and U.S. Department of Energy data on renewable power.

Some states are well-equipped to deal with the rising risks. But these ten states have work to do.

10. Maryland

With nearly 12,000 miles of coastline in the Chesapeake Bay region, Maryland has a front row seat to climate risks from rising sea levels.

“We see a long-term upward trend of sea level rising 3 to 5 millimeters per year, which is double the rate sea level is rising globally,” said University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Professor Ming Li, as water levels and sediment rise and the ground subsides.

All but a relative handful of the state’s 2.2 million properties are vulnerable to major damage over the next 30 years, according to First Street, and nearly 11% of properties face damage from flooding.

In 2021, Maryland adopted a ten-year Climate Adaptation Resilience Framework aimed at making the state’s infrastructure more sustainable by 2030. In addition, Gov. Wes Moore told CNBC in June that the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has sparked a review of all the region’s infrastructure.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 188 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: C-)

Climate Extremes Index (National Average: 32.92%): 62.44%

Properties at risk: 97%

Renewable Energy: 18%

9. (tie) Delaware

For a small state, Delaware faces some big climate challenges. A report prepared for the state in 2022 predicted that climate change will cost the state well over $1 billion a year by 2080. Like in neighboring Maryland, sea level rise is the major risk factor. The state has developed its own Climate Resilience Action Plan. In addition to hardening Delaware’s infrastructure, the plan calls for more renewable energy — another area where the state is lacking.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 230 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: B)

Climate Extremes Index: 62.44%

Properties at risk: 100%

Renewable Energy: 14%

9. (tie) Texas

Whether it is extreme heat, bitter cold, or dangerous hurricanes, extreme weather is a major part of life in The Lone Star State. Yet, unlike many states, Texas has not developed a comprehensive statewide strategy to deal with climate risks, according to the Climate Center at Georgetown University. The Texas power grid, which, unlike other states, is not part of a larger interconnect, has already proven to be vulnerable to outages. The state has well-developed wind energy resources, but in the heart of the oil patch, renewables are underutilized.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 224 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: B-)

Climate Extremes Index: 48.6%

Properties at risk: 99%

Renewable Energy: 34%

7. New Hampshire

The Environmental Protection Agency says New Hampshire’s temperature has risen about three degrees in the last century. And while that might not seem like much, it is having profound effects on The Granite State’s environment. The state is losing wetlands and trees. Flooding is an issue when it rains instead of snows, and the lack of snow cover is impacting everything from crop yields to winter recreation. A statewide climate assessment prepared in 2021 by researchers at the University of New Hampshire also predicts more droughts and decreasing snowpack, disrupting a key component of the state’s ecosystems. The report warns that all this poses risks for the state’s aging infrastructure.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 145 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: F)

Climate Extremes Index: 62.44%

Properties at risk: 40%

Renewable Energy: 21%

6. Pennsylvania

Stretching from the Delaware River to the Great Lakes, The Keystone State’s diverse climate poses a diverse set of risks. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection spells them out in stark terms. In its most recent climate change impacts assessment, the agency predicts that “every county will continue to get warmer and wetter, with average annual rainfall increasing 8%.”

The result, the report says, goes well beyond floods and heatwaves. It also includes landslides, erosion, damage to farms, and even an increase in heat-related illnesses, allergies, and tick-borne diseases. The report, published in 2021 (the next edition is due out this year), is short on recommendations. It calls for the state to prioritize flood mitigation, including reducing the risk of damage from more intense tropical storm. It says the state should pay special attention to environmental justice, protecting disadvantaged groups and communities. And it calls for more research.

The report barely mentions renewable energy, which is also barely a part of Pennsylvania’s power mix.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 235 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: B)

Climate Extremes Index: 62.44%

Properties at risk: 54%

Renewable Energy: 4%

5. Ohio

Change is coming to The Buckeye State, and not in a good way, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a federal study that breaks down U.S. climate risks by region. It says that the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley will experience higher temperatures, periods of intense rainfall and flash droughts. The state is already addressing some of the likely effects with projects like H2Ohio, a comprehensive water strategy that includes initiatives to preserve wetlands, and to address algae blooms on Lake Erie caused by farm runoff. But state climatologist Aaron Wilson has said that more comprehensive strategies are needed.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 246 out of 425 points (Top States Score: B+)

Climate Extremes Index: 39.82%

Properties at risk: 14%

Renewable Energy: 5%

4. Mississippi

The Magnolia State has long faced risks from hurricanes. Now, it is also on the edge of Tornado Alley, which, studies have shown, is moving eastward. Unlike most states, Mississippi’s temperature has not warmed — it has cooled. But the EPA says sea levels are rising, and they could increase by up to four feet in the next century. First Street says every one of the state’s nearly 2 million properties are at risk of major damage in the next 30 years. Yet despite all of this, Mississippi has no statewide strategy to deal with the changing climate. And renewable energy seems to be little more than an afterthought.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 154 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: D-)

Climate Extremes Index: 48.6%

Properties at risk: 100%

Renewable Energy: 5%

3. Connecticut

It is a near perfect climate storm in The Constitution State. Temperatures are warming. Severe weather, including Nor’easters, is intensifying. Sea levels are rising. The Connecticut Department of Public Health says the effects are widespread, from reducing quality of life, to increasing health-care costs and worsening health-care outcomes. In 2021, the state adopted a climate action plan that includes a 45% reduction in CO2 levels by 2030. To accomplish that, the state will likely need to increase its use of renewable energy.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 216 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: C+)

Climate Extremes Index: 62.44%

Properties at risk: 96%

Renewable Energy: 8%

1. (tie) Louisiana

The people of Louisiana have lived with some of the worst impacts of climate change, and not just Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Since 1980, NOAA says the state has seen more than 100 disasters totaling $1 billion in damages or more. They include 14 droughts, 10 floods, one deep freeze, 43 severe storm events, 25 tropical cyclones and nine winter storms. In 2020, then-Governor John Bel Edwards issued a sweeping executive order establishing a 23-person Climate Initiatives Task Force, and setting a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan remains on the web site of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who took office this year, but it is not yet clear if the new administration will leave the strategy intact.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 179 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: D+)

Climate Extremes Index: 48.6%

Properties at risk: 100%

Renewable Energy: 6%

1. (tie) New Jersey

As a coastal state increasingly in the crosshairs of severe weather, New Jersey is feeling the onslaught of a changing climate. But the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center says it is not just high profile events like Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“Even the subtle effects of climate change can have significant consequences,” researchers note. “And because climate impacts often occur simultaneously, they tend to overlap and reinforce each other and exacerbate existing weaknesses.”

Warmer temperatures are creating more intense storms, causing sea levels to rise, threatening public health, and damaging the state’s aging infrastructure.

A Strategic Climate Action Plan championed by Gov Phil Murphy calls for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and an 80% cut by 2050. The plan also calls for building more resilience across all sectors.

2024 Infrastructure Score: 211 out of 425 points (Top States Grade: C+)

Climate Extremes Index: 62.44%

Properties at risk: 97%

Renewable Energy: 12%