From the commie pinko World Bank.
Air pollution is the leading environmental risk to health, costing the globe an estimated $8.1 trillion in 2019, equivalent to 6.1 percent of global GDP. 95 percent of deaths caused by air pollution occur in low- and middle- income countries. In individual countries, the economic burden of pollution associated with premature mortality and morbidity is also significant, equivalent to 5 to 14 percent of countries' GDPs. Individual country studies, for Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Lao PDR, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam, at national and subnational levels, suggest that the costs of pollution-related disease are mainly due to outdoor and household air pollution; and exposure to lead and other chemicals.
As always, I suggest reading the whole short article linked.
The US is hardly exempt, since we offshore/outsource most of the polluting industry that makes our stuff [hint, China]. You know, Globalization and all that shit.
Everyone should know this by now.
Now for the simple mathematics
US annual GDP $20.94 trillion.
If we take the average cost of pollution in terms of percentage GDP.
Cost to the US economy=$20.94*6.1/100 = $1.28 trillion/year.
Yet
Biggest companies pay the least tax, leaving society more vulnerable to pandemic
And
US super-rich 'pay almost no income tax
I wonder what they have in common? Ownership perhaps?
Who pays for it then, well if you don’t have a massive legal and accounting team working for you, and you don’t participate in offshored/onshore tax avoidance and evasion schemes, you do.
Of course, if this situation is maintained, we can't afford to combat climate change, and we are not meant to by design.
The tax avoidance in the US alone amounts to $1 trillion a year.
Global subsidies to the fossil fuel industry amounts to $5.9 trillion a year.
When someone says we cannot afford a mere $350 billion per year, they are lying.
A pollution tax would cover it easily. I say we need to demand at least $1 trillion a year.
I'm so fucking fed up with the bullshit.