John McCain and Sarah Palin ran for office with a Cap and Trade plan in their platform. But, since 2008, the Republican Party, perhaps at the behest of the Koch Brothers, has decided to pretend that climate change is not occurring. I hadn’t really though about it, but it’s probably the inability to get insurance that will force the Republicans to give up this game.
Some of these events will occur in the near-enough term that local governments are under pressure to act. Insurance companies are applying pressure in high-risk areas, essentially saying adapt or pay higher premiums — especially in urban and commercial areas.
The reinsurance giant Swiss Re, for example, has said that if the shore communities of four Gulf Coast states choose not to implement adaptation strategies, they could see annual climate-change related damages jump 65 percent a year to $23 billion by 2030.
“Society needs to reduce its vulnerability to climate risks, and as long as they remain manageable, they remain insurable, which is our interest as well,” said Mark D. Way, head of Swiss Re’s sustainable development for the Americas.
Denying climate change might work politically for a couple of election cycles, but it won’t work economically.
I think I just got an infusion of hope.
