The first climate catastrophe that will get Middle America’s attention won’t be a giant wave rolling into New York City – that’s just a movie.
But home insurance, that’s real.
A few years ago, a very conservative Republican insurance executive wrote this to me:
In my 30 years I have never seen anything like what is happening right now. I sit on several different advisory boards and insurance companies are scared to death about the trends they are seeing. You’re correct, it’s not just coastal areas either, which by the way are nearly impossible to insure right now. I had two house last week in Hilton Head where the premium went from $12k to over $30K and they were lucky to get the $30K. There was nothing else on the market.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell underlined this to the US Senate earlier this year, in response to questioning by Minnesota Senator Tina Smith.