In an article in Fast Company, CSSN Scholar Jesse Keenan argues that domestic climate migration could exacerbate poverty in concentrated areas if the federal government does not play a greater role.

“The White House has looked at international climate migration, and there’s a whole working group on that now, but there’s nothing on domestic climate migration,” says Jesse Keenan, an associate professor of real estate at the Tulane School of Architecture who studies climate change adaptation and the built environment. “I think that’s a missed opportunity on many fronts.”

 “What happens if people get left behind?” says Keenan. “You have a diminished economic activity and output, and you can run this risk of reinforcing poverty cycles in very concentrated areas. And I think that’s almost the sole reason that we have to have the federal government engaged in this.”