Insurance, Politics & Climate Change
Table of Contents
| Chapter 1: 
  Introduction to Insurance, Politics & Climate Change | 1 | 
| Is Climate Change Real? | 2 | 
| Insurers See the Writing on
  the Wall; People Just See the Wall | 2 | 
| Dude! This is About Weather! | 3 | 
| A Surprisingly Difficult
  Topic Even for Insurers | 5 | 
| Time Matters | 6 | 
| A Complicated Insurance
  Topic | 6 | 
| Insurers Look at Financial
  Risks, Not Politics | 9 | 
| Facts are Verified; Insurance
  Companies Weigh In | 10 | 
| Insurers Possess Knowledge | 11 | 
|     Outcome
  #1 & #2 | 12 | 
| A Constant Attempt to Muddy
  the Information Waters | 13 | 
| Insurers Pick Up the Claims,
  and Raise Premiums | 14 | 
| Insurers Assess Global
  Change Risks | 15 | 
| Insurance Claim Tails | 17 | 
| NAIC Looks at Economic
  Threats to Insurer Stability | 18 | 
| Chapter 2:  Spilled
  Milk | 21 | 
| From an Insurance
  Perspective | 23 | 
| Flood Risk and the NFIP | 25 | 
| Other NFIP Issues | 26 | 
| H.R. 5381 | 28 | 
| Climate Change: A Financial
  Issue for Insurers | 29 | 
| Violent Conflicts | 29 | 
| Climate Change or Simply Bad
  Luck? | 30 | 
| A Difficult Concept for Some
  People | 30 | 
| Change and the Unknown Can
  be Frightening | 30 | 
| Lack of Understanding
  Affects Acquired Knowledge | 31 | 
| Financial Gains Affects Climate
  Change Statements | 31 | 
| Inability or Unwillingness
  to Perform Personal Analysis | 32 | 
| Financial Gains Determine
  Opinions | 33 | 
| Moving Forward | 33 | 
| Identifying the Skeptics | 34 | 
| How Can Insurers Meet the
  Climate Challenge? | 35 | 
| Today’s Political Atmosphere
  Molds the Actions of Insurers | 37 | 
| Insurers must deal with a
  Political Climate | 41 | 
| Distributional Politics
  Affect Insurance | 43 | 
| A Tough Situation for
  Insurers | 43 | 
| Insurance Statistics | 45 | 
| Climate Mitigation Affects
  Insurance Producers | 45 | 
| Canada | 47 | 
| Insurer Assessments of the
  Future | 47 | 
| Believe the Insurers, Not
  the Politicians | 49 | 
| Adding Billions of People
  Make this Climate Change Different | 50 | 
| Photosynthesis: The Role
  Plants and Trees Play | 53 | 
| Insuring
  Volcanic ActivityInsuring Volcanic
  Activity | 55 | 
|     Hawaii,
  Alaska | 57 | 
|     Pacific
  Coast, Wyoming and the Rockies, Volcanoes in General | 58 | 
| Unusual Events Can Affect
  Insurance Policies | 59 | 
| Policy Exclusions | 60 | 
| Past Climate Change Before
  Use of Fossil Fuels | 61 | 
| Asteroids | 64 | 
| Insurance & Government
  Actions Related to Climate Change | 69 | 
| Chapter 3: 
  Climate Change Risk Management | 74 | 
| Insures Recognize the Risk | 74 | 
| Crop Loss Equates to
  Insurance Payments | 76 | 
| Insurance Premiums Impact Food Pricing | 79 | 
| Government Insurance Programs Pay Out Higher Losses | 84 | 
| Insects, Weeds &
  Diseases | 85 | 
| Livestock Insurance | 86 | 
| Agricultural Business Insurance | 87 | 
| General Liability Insurance | 88 | 
| Property Insurance | 89 | 
|     ACV, RCV,
  FRC | 89 | 
| Farm
  Employee Insurance | 91 | 
| Over-the-Road
  Vehicle Insurance | 92 | 
| Crop/Income
  Insurance | 93 | 
| Other
  Types of Insurance | 93 | 
| More
  Heat, Drought & Precipitation to Come to Agriculture & Insurers | 94 | 
| Forests | 97 | 
| Bioenergy:
  Plant-Based Material | 101 | 
| The
  Future of Forests | 102 | 
| Chapter 4:  Our Planet’s Future | 104 | 
| Water | 104 | 
| Like
  Insurance, Ecosystems Buffer Severe Weather Events | 106 | 
| Plants
  and Animals | 106 | 
| Seasonal
  Patterns Eventually Equate into Insurance Losses | 109 | 
| Adaption
  Required in Insurance as well as Species | 110 | 
| Health
  Insurance | 112 | 
| Air
  Pollution Increases Health Care Claims | 112 | 
| Allergens
  Cause Health Care Issues | 113 | 
| Temperature
  Extremes Affect the Life & Health Insurance Industry Too | 114 | 
| Weather
  Events Cause-Related Deaths & Injuries (So More Claims) | 115 | 
| Even
  Heavy Downpours Cause Health Issues | 116 | 
| Food
  Security Affects Health, so it also Affects Insurance | 117 | 
| Mental
  Health & Stress-related Disorders | 117 | 
| Vulnerable
  Individuals Present the Highest Health Insurer Risk | 118 | 
| Defining
  the Risks & How Insurers Respond | 120 | 
| Defining
  Fossil Fuels & their Relationship to Insurer Risk | 121 | 
| Reinsurance
  Companies Consider Global Warming Risks | 122 | 
| Insurers
  Do Not Care Whether Climate Change is Human Caused | 123 | 
| Oil | 124 | 
| Coal | 125 | 
| Natural
  Gas | 125 | 
| Environmental
  Impairment Liability Insurance (EIL) | 127 | 
|    
  Earthquake Claims That Appear to be Caused by Fracking | 127 | 
| Energy
  Alternatives | 133 | 
| Insurers
  and Others Consider Solutions | 133 | 
| Options
  Exist | 134 | 
| Insurance
  Solutions to Global Warming | 136 | 
| Global
  Warming and Wildlife & Livestock | 138 | 
| Estimating
  Future Claims Experience | 140 | 
| Civil
  Litigation Equates to Liability Claims | 142 | 
| Measurable
  Risks Are Required by Insurers | 143 | 
| Micro
  Insurance | 144 | 
| Reducing
  Insurance Loss Risks Associated with Climate Change | 148 | 
| Catastrophe
  Reserve Funds | 149 | 
| Risk
  Pools | 149 | 
| Insurance-Linked
  Securities | 149 | 
| Insurers
  have been Aware of Climate Change for Years | 149 | 
| Insurer
  Incentives to Reduce Use of Fossil Fuels | 149 | 
| New
  Pipelines | 150 | 
| Many
  Confusing Opinions & Offered Solutions | 150 | 
| The
  Nicholas Stern 2006 Review | 154 | 
| Insurers
  Understand the Effects of Automobile Emissions | 155 | 
| How People
  Live Has Always Changed Over Time (Insurance Needs Change too) | 160 | 
| Winners
  & Losers in Climate Change Issues, Including Insurance Availability | 163 | 
| Why
  People Must Believe the Insurers | 164 | 
| Chapter
  5:  Climate Change Affects Insurance Companies & Policyholders | 168 | 
| The
  Lawsuits Continue to Rise in Numbers | 168 | 
| Examples
  of Severe Weather Events in 2021 | 169 | 
| It Is Still Just Weather!? | 171 | 
|  
  Fact #1-#5 | 171 | 
|  
  Fact #6-#12 | 172 | 
| Federal
  Policies on Climate Change Between 2017and 2020 | 173 | 
| An
  Ever-Growing Wave of Lawsuits Helps the Insurance Industry | 175 | 
| Will
  Litigation be the Savior of the Insurance Industry? | 178 | 
|  
  Wind Insurance in Wind Pool Areas | 180 | 
|  
  What Defines a Windstorm? | 180 | 
|  
  Windstorm Insurance Deductibles in Florida | 181 | 
| Insurer
  Risk-Knowledge & Management | 182 | 
| Assessing
  Risk & Avoiding Losses | 187 | 
| Life
  & Health Insurance Will be Affected | 193 | 
|  
  Changing Landscape Affects Health Issues & Health Insurance | 194 | 
| Chapter
  6: Insurers Have Limited Abilities | 196 | 
| Persuasion
  Through Premium Rates | 196 | 
|    
  Insurance penetration rates | 198 | 
| Department
  of Commerce Estimations | 205 | 
| NFIP: What
  is the Message for Taxpayers? | 207 | 
| National
  Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) | 210 | 
| 1.
  Premium Increases & Surcharges | 210 | 
|  
  Pre-FIRM Subsidized Policies | 211 | 
|  
  Other Subsidized Policies | 211 | 
|  
  V Zones | 212 | 
|  
  A Zones | 212 | 
|  
  X Zones | 212 | 
|  
  Miscellaneous | 212 | 
|  
  Changes to Become Effective 1/1/19 | 212 | 
| 2.
  Policy Reformation for Use of Incorrect Standard Flood Ins
  Policy Form | 213 | 
| 3.
  Premium Receipt Date for Guidance for Invalid Payments | 213 | 
| 4.
  Primary Residence Determination | 213 | 
| 5.
  Clarification of Increased Cost of Compliance Premium | 214 | 
| 6.
  HFIAA Section 28, Clean Communication of Risk – Phase 2 Re-underwriting | 214 | 
| 7.
  Datum Conversion | 214 | 
| 8.
  Updated Claims Data Elements | 215 | 
| NFIP
  Risk Rating 2.0 | 215 | 
| What
  is not Changing | 216 | 
| Premium
  Rates under Risk Rating 2.0 | 217 | 
| Phase
  I and Phase II | 218 | 
| General
  Property Form / Standard Flood Insurance Policy | 220 | 
| Europe
  Ahead of America in the Reality Category | 248 | 
| Litigation
  Risk Due to Both Actions & Inactions Related to Climate Change | 250 | 
| Physical
  Risks | 254 | 
| Transition
  Risks | 254 | 
| Liability
  Risks | 254 | 
| Driving
  Factors | 254 | 
| Insurer
  Risk is Increasing | 256 | 
| Insurance
  Categories | 257 | 
| Business
  Interruption Insurance and Resulting Claims | 258 | 
| Food
  Safety & Insurance | 258 | 
| Global
  Security Also Impacted | 259 | 
| General
  Insurance & Liability Affected | 259 | 
| It
  is All in the Math | 260 | 
| Insurance
  Company Wake-Up Calls | 260 | 
| Insurers
  Invest Too | 261 | 
| Dealing
  with Transition Risks | 261 | 
| Liability
  Risks | 262 | 
| Professional
  Indemnity | 265 | 
| Making
  Assessments | 266 | 
| As
  Always, Opinions Vary | 267 | 
| Tipping
  Events | 271 | 
| International
  Collaborations & Finance: Premium Rise as Claims Rise | 271 | 
| Developing
  New Insurance Products | 272 | 
| Insurance
  Impacts from Global Warming | 273 | 
|  
  Life Insurance | 273 | 
|  
  Health Insurance | 273 | 
| Insurers
  Recognized It First (Along with Scientists of course) | 278 | 
| Concepts
  of Insurability | 279 | 
| Chapter
  7: The Ethics of Climate Change | 282 | 
| Climate
  Change: An Ethical Issue | 282 | 
| The
  Poorest of the Poor | 283 | 
| Predicting
  & Coping | 285 | 
| New
  Technology & the Hope that it Will Heal | 285 | 
|  
  Power | 287 | 
|  
  Transport Technology | 287 | 
| Funding
  from an Ethical Obligation  | 287 | 
| What’s
  in a Name? | 289 | 
|    
  Three primary issues that relate to climate change | 289 | 
|    
  IPPC report identified the ethical considerations | 295 | 
| Climate
  Change: A Moral Issue | 301 | 
|    
  Aerosol Pollution | 303 | 
|    
  In insurance Uncertainty is a technical term. | 307 | 
|    
  Adaption where possible | 309 | 
| Change
  Starts at the Top | 312 | 
| Giving
  the Subject Legitimacy | 312 | 
| Making
  Global Warming Personally Relevant | 313 | 
| Making
  Ethical Choices for our World | 313 | 
| Regulatory
  & Political Risks | 314 | 
| From
  a Practical Standpoint | 319 | 
| Choosing
  Ethical Conduct | 320 | 
| Ethics
  Beyond Philosophers | 321 | 
| Being
  Ethically Responsible is Hard Work | 322 | 
| Responsibility
  to Others | 323 | 
| A
  Legal Liability | 325 | 
| Free
  Choice | 327 | 
| Egoism | 329 | 
| Objectivist
  Theory | 330 | 
|    
  Example # 1 & #2 | 330 | 
| Ethical
  Conduct Varies | 331 | 
| Moral
  Persuasion | 332 | 
| Rationalizing
  Morals | 333 | 
United Insurance Educators, Inc.
(253) 846-1155