To the editor:

“It’s a hoax.” I’m not certain, but I imagine this is the belief of our housing developers and financial institutions, banking, insurance and real estate pros when considering housing and commercial development along 31st Street and the southeast expressway in Lawrence. Also, they must have in their portfolio President Trump’s executive order on climate change. This order revokes several environmental reviews and other Obama era climate plans and orders.

The area I mention is not only a wetland but also a woodland. Real estate is one of the biggest victims of climate change. Over decades scientists have gotten it right. Currently floods and wildfires are creating risk for property insurers. The Economist Magazine’s April 2024 cover story highlighted the issue of climate change and predicted a $25 trillion hit to the world’s real estate assets. A recent bipartisan Congressional Budget Office identified fires and floods as threats that will undermine our financial system.

Congress is ignoring its own warnings and creating its own political and economic catastrophe.

Tom Guba,

Lawrence