Scientists have researched climate change for over three decades, gathering information about how the human population and our actions have affected the global temperature. At this point, there is little scientific dispute about climate change, but the United States’ newest president-elect seems to have other ideas. Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax, and he has already appointed some skeptics to his energy and environmental transition team, including Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. On November 21, 2016, Trump released a YouTube video detailing some of his plans for his first 100 days in office, and unsurprisingly, one of his goals is to end restrictions on energy production. Overall, the situation is not looking great for the status of our environment, so it may be important to look at what costs this will bring us in the future.

One important note about climate change is that it is essentially irrevocable and has a foreseeable time limit. The more we ignore this problem, the greater the problem becomes. This means that it continuously gets more expensive as a result. In 2015, Citigroup estimated that if we do not act, the cost will be up to $44 trillion by 2060. In this scenario, everyone continues living the way they have been, and we maintain the level of progress that has been made. Trump’s desire to lift energy regulations actually sets us backwards on the scale, and it is hard to imagine what the costs would be then. Last week, senior scientists said that if Trump carries through with all of his promises from his campaign, it might as well be “game over” for the environment.

Climate change is not a zero sum game. There are costs to acting and not acting, but it is important to weigh the difference. Many argue that low oil prices have lowered motivation to look for alternative sources of energy. While it may be less attractive to invest time and money into renewables, it could also be argued that because oil is so cheap, there is more space to spend money on energy efficiency without halting the global economy.

For Trump, this future catastrophe is not a huge deal because it most likely will not happen in his lifetime. For today’s millennials, climate change is yet another cost that they will have to incur. Millennials are already dealing with low incomes, high debt, and the heavy weight of social security and healthcare. This is especially detrimental to low-income, vulnerable populations because these groups are always hit the hardest in economic declines.

All of the monetary costs aside, climate change itself can and will do its own damage to the planet. There will be more frequent and extreme weather cases, disease, and deteriorating farm yields. Additionally, there will be an increase in climate-related disturbances including soil change, drought, and flooding. We are already seeing some uncharacteristically dangerous hurricanes and storms that cause severe destruction, such as Hurricane Sandy on the east coast of the US. The young people of today will have to deal with all this in a few years, and it is unclear whether or not this is even possible.