Looks like twelve Oil, Gas and Coal state Attorneys General are threatening to sue California State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones if he does not stop asking the insurance companies he regulates about their investments in oil, gas and coal.
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| Dave Jones |
Commissioner Jones gets to ask insurers to reveal their investments because its his job to make sure that insurers are making solid investments and don’t end up with “stranded assets” (Stranded Assets could also make a nice spin-off to The Americans Russian spy tv series, but as usual, I digress).
As the country swirls with massive flooding in Texas, fires in California and other ravages of climate change, it strikes me that, even if these fossil fuel industries are never “stranded” and continue to be profitable investments, by accelerating the rate of climate change through releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, these industries massively increase the risk that property and casualty insurers will default on coverage. How can insurers possibly make good on their promises when “water bombs” are dropping from the sky on major population centers? And if insurers default on their coverage, its a good bet that taxpayers will be left to pay the tab. Who else is going to make sure that people have places to live? This connection alone makes it the insurance commissioner’s business in my book (although granted I have no clue what the actual legal scope of his authority is–I know that Dave Jones knows though, he’s a super smart lawyer).
In addition to getting their political minions to threaten Jones with a lawsuit, these insurers and polluting industries apparently have obtained a hostile amendment to California State Senate Bill 488 which would, if enacted, stop the Insurance Commissioner’s office from surveying insurers about climate risks.
If you’re a California voter, you can help stop this effort by signing this petition– Remove Oil Gas and Coal Industry Amendment to SB 488. I signed it and I’m proud of our Insurance Commissioner.