Avery Ellfeldt, E&E News reporter Published: Monday, March 30, 2020
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“This period of stress is giving us a glimpse as to what’s ahead of us in terms of an external shock from climate change,” Gelzinis said.

The federal government, he added, should take bold steps to ensure the nation isn’t “caught flat-footed when the climate shock inevitably hits.”

Economists and environmental advocates have long warned that climate change has the potential to trigger an unprecedented economic crisis.

That concern has endured even as the U.S. government races to rescue the economy from the novel coronavirus pandemic. In fact, they say authorities still are failing to prepare the financial system for a climate-fueled downturn — despite a fresh, firsthand view of how a global calamity can affect the world marketplace.

Top of mind is a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill and several regulatory proposals that experts say don’t account for…