Wisconsin May Not be a "Climate Haven"

Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 -- 11:00 AM

(Beatrice Lawerence, Wisconsin Public Radio) A journalist and author of an upcoming book on climate migration is casting doubt on the idea that Wisconsin can serve as a “climate haven.”

According to Beatrice Lawerence with the Wisconsin Public Radio, last month, Republicans in the state Legislature proposed a bill that would incentivize those fleeing recent natural disasters in the United States to settle in Wisconsin.

The legislation would give anyone who was displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires or Hurricane Helene in North Carolina a $10,000 income tax credit if they choose to move to Wisconsin.

The bill’s authors said it could help address the state’s workforce shortage, especially in health care. Some cities in the Great Lakes region are advertising themselves as “climate havens.”

They’re defined as locations that are better insulated from the effects of climate change due to factors like an abundance of fresh water and immunity from hurricanes and rising sea levels.

Madison and Duluth, Minnesota are among the cities that claim to be an attractive destination for climate migrants. But climate journalist Alexandra Tempus doubts any place could safely be considered a “climate haven.”

In a recent piece for The Guardian, Tempus points to data that shows 99.5 percent of congressional districts in the U.S. experienced at least one federally declared major disaster due to extreme weather between 2011 and 2024.

Tempus recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that it’s unlikely a tax incentive would draw many people to Wisconsin. “If lawmakers seek to make the state hospitable to disaster survivors, there needs to be radically transformative investments in public infrastructure and services here across the board,” Tempus said.

“A $10,000 tax credit is a drop in the bucket for people who have potentially lost everything and moved to Wisconsin from out of state.”

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