# The American Dream Wasn’t Built for Climate Change

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-american-dream-wasnt-built-for-climate-change-2/
- Published: 2026-11-07T10:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-07T10:21:54+00:00
- Original publisher: Wired
- Original article: https://www.wired.com/story/the-american-dream-wasnt-built-for-climate-change/
- Topics: Americas, Climate, Science, World

## Key points

- Isley and Jamie narrowly avoided buying before Hurricane Helene flooded Asheville.
- Climate risks could cut US home values by nearly $1.5 trillion by 2055.
- Many voters see climate change as a threat to the American Dream.

## Summary

Sierra Isley and her girlfriend Jamie avoided buying a house in Asheville after a lien disrupted their purchase, then saw the city suffer severe flooding from Hurricane Helene a month after they moved into a rented flat. Their experience illustrates how floods, fires and rising insurance costs are making homeownership, long regarded as a route to financial security, increasingly uncertain.

A First Street report projected climate risks could reduce the value of US homes by nearly $1.5 trillion by 2055. In polling for Grist, 58 per cent of likely voters, including 42 per cent of Republicans, said climate change would hinder their ability to achieve the American Dream over the next 20 years. The article argues that fossil fuel use has helped drive climate risks that threaten the prosperity it was promoted as supporting.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.