Fed Officials See Climate Change as Pressing Threat to Economy

Climate change poses current and future risks to the U.S. economy, warned two Federal Reserve policy makers at the U.S. central bank’s inaugural conference on climate.

“Climate change is an economic issue we can’t afford to ignore,” San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said Friday in San Francisco. “The impact of these events go well beyond their immediate disruptions. They can destroy wealth, exacerbate existing income inequalities, and -- in the most severe cases -- displace people permanently.”

The Fed conference showed policy makers getting serious about what it means for their goals of preserving price stability and maximum employment ...