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Evan Mills is a staff scientist at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the world's leading research centers on energy. He specializes in the effects of climate change on economic systems, particularly the insurance sector. His insurance-related research can be seen at http://eetd.lbl.gov/insurance/.
Eugene Lecomte is president emeritus of the Institute for Business and Home Safety. A veteran of more than 50 years in the insurance business, Lecomte has served as president and CEO of the Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction, the National Committee on Property Insurance and the Property Insurance Plans Service Office.Worried that bad weather will shut down your operations or that a planned expansion is vulnerable to hurricane-force winds? Insurers are, too. While some are raising rates or refusing to insure in some high-risk locations, others are giving clients discounts for using solar and other energy sources that won't be disrupted if power lines go down, or for using stronger building materials in hurricane zones.
A small but increasing number of insurers are finding creative ways such as those to limit losses or otherwise cope with the wilder weather patterns thought to be the legacy of global warming, according to this report by Ceres, a coalition of environmental groups, investors and others that is working with business to adapt methods and policies that lessen threats such as climate change.
Ceres likens the new trend to how the insurance industry coped with threats such as earthquakes and fire—and warns that a similar failure to adjust and simply continuing to jack up rates or refuse to insure will ultimately cause a national crisis.
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