Should fossil fuels cover fire losses?

While wild fires passed through Los Angeles County last month, New York Times publishes a comment Former Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who offered oil companies to pay for the huge disasters of disasters from human life and property, not for insurance companies.

“The main oil and gas companies have known for decades that burning their products can lead to potentially catastrophic events such as higher temperatures and abnormally dry conditions that fed fires still fight in Los Angeles, Jones, now director of Climate Risk Initiative in Climate Risk Risk Initiative in Climate Risk Risk Initiative in the UC Climate Risk Initiative Berkeley, he wrote, adding: “We must require these extremely profitable companies to compensate for communities, homeowners, business and even losses insurers.”

Jones pointed out the incident after the camp’s fire destroyed the rural community of Paradise in 2018 as a model of transition after the oil industry. After paying the claims of property owners Paradise, insurers reimbursed $ 11 billion from PG & E, as the failure of a metal hook on a gear tower is considered to have lit the fire.

The bold of oil companies for damage in Los Angeles will discourage insurers to leave the California market or reduce the coverage, said Jones, which they make before the fiery storm in LA.

Five days after the essay is published, Saint. WienerDemocrat from San Francisco introduced Senate Bill 222Which would resolve exactly what Jones suggested if it was a law.

“Californians pay a devastating price for the climate crisis, as disaster escalation destroys entire communities and stimulate insurance costs through the roof,” said Wiener’s message. “The content of these costs is crucial to our recovery and for the future of our country. Forcing fossil fuel companies moving the climate crisis to pay their fair share, we can help stabilize our insurance market and make the victims of climate disasters. “

SB 222 is a new wrinkle in four interconnected Californias: climate change, the future of the former California oil industry, the scourge of the wildfires And the reluctance of many insurers to write fire policies in the country.

Almost immediately, the California business leaders have declared war on legislation, claiming that this will have a huge and negative effect on the country’s economy and will lead to great increases in the cost of life of the Californians.

The California Center for Jobs and the Economy, the hand of the influential intercession group in California for intercession, intercession in California, issued an analysis of the measureIt is alleged that “SB 222 could lead to claims for a total value of up to $ 1.1 trillion to 2030 and an additional $ 10.8 trillion for retroactive responsibility for past issues. These allegations, if pursued, could function as an unverified carbon fee, drastically increasing households, businesses and government agencies. “

The report predicts that “gasoline could jump 63% to $ 7.38 a gallon, diesel 69% to $ 8.23, and electricity percentages could increase to 55% for industrial consumers. Natural gas prices would jump 76% for residential customers, increasing the cost of heating and cooking.

“Housing costs will also rise sharply, with housing owners paying $ 1161 more a year and tenants facing an additional $ 1692 a year due to increasing costs of utilities. Food, transport and consumer goods will become more expensive as businesses are struggling with higher fuels and operating costs. Traveling an airplane can see dramatic price increases, potentially making flights to and from California inaccessible. “

Despite the slope of the legislative power in the political left, receiving the SB 222 will be a steep climb up. At least, it gives a new taste to some thorny, perhaps existential, problems facing the state and its political leaders.