Tuesday Energy Blogging – How you know beyond a shadow of a doubt man-made climate change is real
Posted by: Donna
From the WSJ (subscription needed to read entire article):
FRANKFURT — Munich Re AG, one of the world’s largest reinsurers, Tuesday said economic and insured losses caused by climate change will continue to grow, and called for a near-term deal to ensure a substantial reduction in global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Reinsurers are the companies that insure the insurance companies. Insurance people deal in risk calculations having to do with billions of dollars. Years ago reinsurers started doing their own studies on global warming and found that they tracked with what climatologists and other scientists concluded. Tell that to your Dittohead uncle the next time he starts spouting denier talking points.
From a March WSJ article (no subscription required):
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners voted to require insurers to submit annual “climate-risk” reports, an unusually aggressive stance on the environmental issue from industry regulators.
The officials acted after concluding that climate change threatens insurers in two ways. It increases the risk of extreme weather events such as floods and wildfires, which would boost claims. And it is prompting governments to cap industrial carbon emissions that contribute to global warming — a move threatens the profits of companies such as coal-fired utilities in which insurers commonly invest.
Climate change “will have a huge impact on the insurance industry,” particularly on property and casualty insurers, said Joel Ario, Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner and the head of the association’s global-warming task force.
Insurance commissioners also foresee climate change offering savvy insurers new ways to make money. One example: auto insurance with premiums based on the number of miles a person drives. Such policies would prod consumers to drive less, curbing their vehicles’ carbon emissions.
The industry is resisting this disclosure requirement but it’s expected that they’ll have to release their first report May 1, 2010. I predict this will not only put yet another substantial dent in the “credibility” of the deniers, it may spur governments and industries into quicker action on implementing meaningful policies that reduce carbon emissions. Money talks. And there’s a lot of it in insurance.
Here’s another good article on the subject: link
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Oh sure!
You liburals with your “the
ories” theories. Like evolution. Pffft.. Gravity. Yeah right. Self regulating market. Oops,forget that one.
(nice catch on your last link. Veddy interesting.).
Waaaay off thread, but I see my honey BB gun Cheeto Boy posted some family reunion pics.
ThanksAlan!
(bear with, quite rusty)
o well.
Donna,
We all know that the Western Europeans have swallowed man made global warming hook line and sinker. That a company in Germany would say this is no surprise, particularly with the way government dominates all business there.
Believe it or not there were great floods, droughts, swings in climate, and even super hurricanes before Al Gore invented global warming. It’s just that now they are all caused by global warming.