By Aaliyah Pamplin
The Unfair Cost of a Warming World
Across the world, climate change is reshaping not only the environment but also the economy, deepening existing inequalities. Rising temperatures, stronger storms, unpredictable rainfall and higher energy costs place disproportionate burdens on low-income communities.
While wealthier households can often adapt through insurance, home upgrades or relocation, many families cannot. A World Bank report estimates that climate change could push an additional 68 million to 135 million people into poverty by 2030 — a problem already emerging in vulnerable U.S. regions.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Robeson County, N.C., the state’s poorest county, according to the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The area has been repeatedly hit by hurricanes, extreme heat and inadequate drainage systems. In towns such as Pembroke, Maxton and Red Springs, climate change isn’t a distant concept. Residents feel its effects when utility bills spike, when floodwaters linger for weeks or when renters lose access to cooling assistance simply because the utility account is in a landlord’s name.
In Pembroke, the poverty rate reached 43.7% in 2023, and the median household income fell to $22,940, according to Data USA. For many families here, climate change isn’t an inconvenience, it’s an economic emergency.
“I’ve had to choose between food and electricity,” Aiden Locklear. “I grew up in poverty. I still deal with it. There have been times when I went an entire week without being able to eat, and other times an entire week without electricity.”
“I get paid biweekly,” said
Flooded and Forgotten
“Because we live below the fall line, we live on a floodplain,” said Harlen Chavis, cultural and historic preservation officer for the Lumbee Tribe. “I’m originally from Maxton, specifically the Smiths community, which borders Hoke County. That area is constantly under threat of floodwaters.”
In Antioch, a small community near Pembroke, flooding has become routine. After Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, some areas remained underwater for years because clogged ditches and outdated stormwater systems couldn’t drain the excess water. A simple ditch blockage was enough to turn parts of the town into a stagnant lake.
Chavis recalled that after the 2016 and 2018 storms, his community contacted county officials about a clogged drainage ditch. The county responded within two days, clearing the debris and allowing water to drain into a nearby watershed. But such quick responses are far from universal across Robeson County.
“The lack of reinforcing bridges, levee systems and keeping ditches and irrigation systems clean and clear has been a problem for some time,” Chavis said. “Most of Robeson, Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland counties are flood zones period. The only way to ensure safety from floods in those areas is to deal with the beaver, driftwood and outdated drainage system problems.”
A N.C. Department of Environmental Quality assessment found that aging stormwater systems, drainage issues and underfunded maintenance leave large portions of rural North Carolina vulnerable to chronic flooding. Renters and residents without flood insurance, which is common in low-income areas, often receive little federal aid, making recovery slow and financially crushing.
“I think it was Hurricane Florence, and the flooding was so bad it destroyed pipelines for water,” Locklear said. “There was so many bacteria that the government shut down the county. The Red Cross had to deliver health packages because people were without food, water and electricity. They told everyone not to drink the water unless it was boiled because of how much sickness it carried.”
For some, the danger extends beyond property damage and not everyone can stay put where they are. “During one storm, my stepdad got very temperamental, and I couldn’t stay in the house,” Miraglia said. “The rain had stopped just enough that I took my chances and left for my grandparents’ house. There was a flooded road, and I had no choice but to drive through it. I could feel my car bobbing, but I kept pressing the gas until it caught traction. Otherwise, I could’ve been carried away.”
For many Robeson County families, a single storm can erase years of progress. With limited drainage capacity, little insurance coverage and few resources to rebuild, the cycle of flooding and recovery leaves entire communities underwater.
Drinking Water: Another Casualty of Climate
Access to clean water follows the same pattern of inequality. Climate change increases the risk of water contamination as heavy rains wash bacteria from livestock operations, septic systems and agricultural fields into nearby rivers and wells, threatening both crops and drinking water supplies.
Elvis Kamau, a UNC Pembroke nursing student who studies water quality for his senior project, said smaller communities often struggle to maintain safe water systems.
“You can’t compare here to big cities,” Kamau said. “Big cities have money to invest in clean water systems. Smaller communities don’t.”
“The filter system isn’t the best,” Locklear said. “Even outside of storms, everyone tells you not to drink the water — especially if you live in city limits. Yes, water goes through treatment plants, but that doesn’t guarantee every bacteria is removed.”
For some residents, bottled water simply isn’t affordable. “I don’t have a whole lot of money,” Miraglia said. “Sometimes I have no other choice but to drink tap.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises boiling water when bottled options aren’t available, noting that boiling for at least one minute can make contaminated water safer to drink.
At his certified water lab, Larry Edwards said many small farmers cannot afford routine water testing. Private labs often charge around $140 per sample, while his lab charges $60 to help farmers test for contaminants such as E. coli, salmonella and listeria. After major storms, he said, contamination levels “go up immediately.”
The Cost of Staying Cool — and Warm
One of the clearest ways climate change exposes inequalities is through the rising cost of controlling indoor temperatures. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association reports that the average American household now spends $784 between June and September on cooling — a 14% increase since 2020.
But averages hide a harsher reality in rural and low-income communities, where cooling and heating costs aren’t just high, they’re overwhelming.
Programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, are designed to help households manage energy costs. But they face two major challenges: funding may run out before all applicants receive assistance, and eligibility rules don’t account for common issues faced by renters.
Chavis said many renters are denied assistance because the utility account is in a landlord’s name rather than the tenant’s. Even when landlords apply, they aren’t required to use the funds for the rental unit, meaning the support may never reach the residents who need it most.
“My electricity is rolled into my rent,” Miraglia said. “There have been times when I had to decide whether to split my rent payment in half to afford gas, food, my car payment or my phone bill. I need my phone bill paid because I use GPS to get to work. So, I’ve had to figure out which bill I’m only going to pay half of… if I can pay it at all.”
Inadequate building maintenance compounds climate-related problems.
“Earlier this year in my apartment, it was raining outside and it was cold. It was back in January, and I woke up to the sound of water dripping,” Miraglia said. “My whole kitchen was flooded. I think the weather had caused the pipes to burst or something, because the water was coming through all of the apartments in my building. That was fun to wake up to at 22
She said the building’s poor condition reflects broader infrastructure problems in impoverished areas. “Considering we live in Pembroke, and it is an impoverished area, they’re not able to keep all of these buildings up to code as much as they should,” Miraglia said. “And we live below the fall line, which makes it worse.”
The Lumbee Tribe operates its own LIHEAP program for Lumbee community members, but this year it was delayed. Because of the federal government shutdown, the application period was pushed to Jan. 5-30, 2026, potentially leaving families without support during the cold months.
The Physical Toll
Climate change doesn’t just strain wallets, it also strains bodies. Heat-related illnesses, poor air quality and flood-related health issues are rising, especially in communities with limited access to health care.
Former nurse Taylor Zublina said climate change is worsening public health conditions by increasing extreme heat, natural disasters and unsafe living environments. She noted that poor housing and air quality further contribute to illness, linking these issues directly to climate stressors.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality reports a rise in heat-related emergency visits, particularly in rural counties. Prolonged flooding after storms can trigger mold growth and bacterial contamination, which increase asthma and respiratory illnesses.
According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 4,688 heat-related emergency department visits in summer 2024, with rural regions which reports some of the highest rates. The state now offers heat-health alerts through the NCDHHS Climate and Health Program to help residents stay informed during dangerous heat events.
At UNC Pembroke, Student Health Services offers support but faces limits. Students aren’t required to use the university’s insurance plan, and the campus clinic handles mainly non-emergency issues.
“We see a lot of respiratory issues from October to February, which is normal,” said Crystal Moore, director of Student Health Services. “Heat-related emergencies, however, require trips to the emergency room,” adding extra financial strain for students who are uninsured or face high copays.
Farming Through Uncertainty
Climate change is reshaping agriculture one season at a time. In Robeson County, unpredictable rainfall, higher temperatures and extreme weather have turned farming into a gamble.
“We’re dealing with droughts and floods in the same season now,” said Douglas Locklear of Big Foot Farm. “It’s hard to plan when you don’t know what’s coming.”
At Covenant Farming, the experience is similar. “The rain comes all at once now — three or four inches in a single event,” a local farmer said. “You either flood or you dry out. We added irrigation, but that’s expensive. Without it, we’d lose money.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, shifting precipitation patterns threaten crop yields and soil health across the Southeast. When crops fail, farmers struggle to pay loans, seasonal jobs disappear, and local food prices rise.
Many farmers are trying to adapt by rotating crops, planting cover crops and investing in drainage or irrigation systems. But the cost of these improvements adds another layer of financial strain.
To sell produce safely, farmers must also meet Good Agricultural Practices, or GAP, certification standards. But the inspections are time-consuming, the paperwork is extensive and the required upgrades can be expensive, costs that climate-related contamination only makes worse. Edwards noted that many farms without this certification lose access to larger distributors and markets, limiting their ability to grow.
Another challenge comes from the cost of federal compliance. One local farmer said they were unable to pursue FDA certification because approval fees, often between $20,000 and $25,000, were far too expensive. Without these certifications, small farms cannot expand operations, invest in new equipment or compete with larger agricultural companies.
This creates a widening gap: wealthier farms can comply with regulations and adopt climate-resilient upgrades, while smaller farms struggle to keep up.
Conservation easements, which protect farmland from development, have become increasingly important. Without them, families recovering from climate disasters often feel pressured to sell their land, accelerating the decline of rural farming communities.
Food Insecurity Grows
The agricultural challenges are compounding food insecurity across the region.
Davon Goodwin of Sandhills Aginnovation Center, a nonprofit organization based in Richmond County that works with 30 farmers across the state, said demand for fresh produce has increased dramatically.
“Right now, with the SNAP benefits being cut, we have definitely seen a big uptake and need for fresh fruits and vegetables,” Goodwin said. The organization redistributes products to communities facing food insecurity across 10 counties in the Sandhills region.
Goodwin said seniors face particular challenges. “We do a lot of programs with seniors, 65 and above, but they face a higher rate of food insecurity,” he said. “People don’t realize that. They think it’s like younger people, but older people don’t get a lot of food benefits, so we try to address that as well.”
For families relying on SNAP benefits, the government shutdown has created additional hardship. Miraglia said her parents depend on the program but struggle to afford nutritious food even with assistance.
“They made unhealthy food so accessible and so cheap versus stuff that’s actually healthy and nutritious,” Miraglia said. “Trying to pay out of pocket for that, you’re really not getting much of anything.”
Locklear said the benefits don’t stretch far enough to cover real needs. “People are complaining about the fact that there shouldn’t even be such a thing as food stamps because people are only buying unhealthy food,” he said. “But again, when you look at how much people are getting on food stamps and then look at the price of actual food, that food stamps, it’s not getting you nowhere.”
The problem is compounded by proposals to further restrict what SNAP recipients can purchase. “They’re trying to pass laws to prevent you from being able to buy milk and cheese and actual healthy stuff, and just leave it to strictly junk food only,” Locklear said. “That’s unfair. That is so unfair.”
Access to farmers markets, which could provide healthier options, remains limited by cost and scheduling. “To buy healthier foods that are farmed by farmers at farmers markets would be more expensive than if I were to go to Walmart or Food Lion,” Miraglia said. “And plus, farmers markets are only seasonal. And some of those are closed down by the time I actually get off work.”
The result is a food system where the healthiest options remain out of reach for those who need them most. “It is so much easier to buy unhealthy foods, lots of unhealthy foods for a cheap price, than to buy the makings for a healthy meal that is also budget friendly,” Miraglia said.
Policy Shifts Raise Concerns
Statewide energy and climate policies continue to shift, and these changes have direct effects on affordability. Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80 set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2025, while emphasizing clean energy jobs and environmental justice. In March, the order’s related legislative efforts were placed in recess, pausing progress without formally ending debate.
More recent legislation has slowed momentum even further. In August 2025, lawmakers passed the Power Bill Reduction Act, or Senate Bill 266, which removed Duke Energy’s requirement to cut carbon emissions 70% by 2030. The bill also expands natural gas use and changes long-term energy planning requirements. Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the measure, warning it would raise costs for working families, but the legislature overrode the veto.
Supporters of the bill argue it will prevent energy shortages and protect jobs. Critics say it undermines clean-energy goals and keeps the state reliant on fossil fuels that contribute to climate change and higher energy prices. According to NC Newsline, the shift could lead to higher residential energy costs and delay North Carolina’s transition to cleaner power sources.
For families in Robeson County, where energy already consumes a larger share of household budgets, these policy reversals create added uncertainty.
The Widening Gap
Even basic home improvements that protect residents during extreme weather, such as flood-proofing or installing central air, require upfront costs that many low-income families cannot afford. As a result, wealthier households are able to adapt, while low-income families absorb the damage. Each storm widens that gap.
Many residents are also told they “Make too much” to qualify for government assistance, even when they are struggling.
Locklear said his own experience seeking disability benefits shows how difficult accessing support can be.
“Boldly and flat out, they told me, ‘You do not qualify for disability because you are not mentally retarded,'” he said. “That is exactly what the official told me, which to me is insane, because I’ve been burned alive.”
Locklear said multiple workers in the system admitted how intentionally difficult the process can be.
“People who work in that area of the government will tell you the reason they make it so hard is because they don’t want to write the checks,” he said. “Pure laziness.”
He said he understands the need for safeguards against fraud, but the system still fails many who genuinely need support.
“It’s unfair to people who truly are disabled, whether it’s visible or internal,” he said. “I have both, medically diagnosed. I presented all my documents during my six-month case, and it was rejected twice.”
Locklear plans to reapply and hopes the next attempt will be different.
For residents living paycheck to paycheck, climate-related losses aren’t temporary setbacks, they can derail financial stability for years. Wealthier families often rebuild by filing insurance claims or hiring contractors. Low-income families, by contrast, may spend months waiting for government assistance, relying on neighbors or simply living with the damage.
In Robeson County, climate change is more than an environmental issue, it’s an economic crisis that deepens with every storm, every heat wave and every flooded field. And for the county’s most vulnerable residents, the cost of adaptation remains far out of reach.
