State: Climate change could cost taxpayers billions of dollars

(The Center Square) – California’s taxpayers could pay as much as $15.4 billion by 2033 and $56 billion by 2100 to fight the effects of climate change, a California Department of Transportation report states.

According to a sea level rise report earlier this year from the state Department of Transportation, officials project that the effects of climate change on California’s highways and roadways will cost $14.7 billion by 2033. That number is likely to jump to $56 billion by 2100, the department said in its report. Some of the money to cover costs could come from federal funding.

That report also stipulates that more than six and a half feet of sea level rise could cost the San Francisco Bay Area alone $450 billion to make the area resilient to a rising sea.

Additionally, $150 billion worth of property is at risk of damage because of sea level rise, according to that report.

Officials with the Department of Transportation, the California State Transportation Agency and the California Transportation Commission did not answer questions from The Center Square before publication time on Monday.

Already, taxpayer money has been spent on dealing with the aftermath of climate conditions’ impacts on California roads and highways. About $83 million was spent on restoration efforts of a stretch of Highway 1 near Big Sur after a major coastal storm in February 2024 caused a landslide, according to another report from the California Department of Transportation. More than 300,000 cubic yards of debris was cleared from the roadway, and the equivalent of 52 miles of steel was drilled into the slope to stabilize the hill.

According to the Department of Transportation, California’s taxpayers also paid $60.5 million to move part of Highway 1 in Sonoma County, in the San Francisco Bay Area, 400 feet inland to prevent damage from coastal erosion and flooding. That project included construction of an 850-foot-long bridge. An additional $21 million of taxpayers’ money was spent on shifting a three-mile stretch of Highway 1 inland between 80 and 475 feet in San Luis Obispo County, as well as a $24 million bridge that can be raised up to three and a half feet in anticipation of sea level rise.

The state’s 2026 Climate Change Vulnerability Risk Assessment shows that 15% of the state’s highway system stands to experience flooding from nearby rivers, and along the coast, approximately 90 miles of roads are exposed to coastal flooding during major storms.

Up to 440 miles of roadways in California could be impacted by rising sea levels and increased coastal storms, and up to 330 miles of those roadways could become permanently lost by the end of the century, according to that report.

However, among all the hazards the California Department of Transportation analyzed in its latest climate change vulnerability report, coastal flooding is expected to be the greatest threat to the state’s transportation system.

Coastal erosion, similar to that seen at Gleason Beach in Sonoma County and the Rocky Creek Bridge in Carmel, could result in the permanent loss of 32 miles of roads. That number could increase to 84 miles of roads toward the end of the century, according to the Department of Transportation. Wildfire is also a major threat to California’s roads and highways – 75% of the state’s roadways are in fire-prone areas, and in some parts of the state, that number jumps to more than 90%, according to the Department of Transportation’s latest climate change vulnerability risk assessment.

Landslides threaten roughly 50% of the state’s roadways system, according to that report.

State politicians who sit on transportation committees in the California Assembly and Senate did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment on Monday or were not available.