Insurance and Climate Change column

San Francisco May Screen Insurers for Their Fossil Fuels Investments

By | July 26, 2018

  • July 26, 2018 at 8:31 am
    Tony Polar Bearnnett says:
    Hot debate. What do you think?
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    I left my heart and tax dollars in San Francisco.

    • July 27, 2018 at 4:04 pm
      Agent says:
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      No wonder good people are fleeing SF and Oakland.

  • July 26, 2018 at 11:41 am
    KP says:
    Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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    San Fran should worry more about their homeless problem and drug needles left about the city.
    Their tourism is getting killed. Because of these absurd rules I hope they fail.
    Leave it to the libs. Smh

    • July 27, 2018 at 1:52 pm
      Captain Planet says:
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      I think they can do both. What is up with people thinking they have to do either/or? How about ‘and’?

      • July 30, 2018 at 10:23 am
        Weird says:
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        Fallacy of relative privation. It is alarming how often I read it on here.

      • August 1, 2018 at 8:13 pm
        PolarBeaRepeal says:
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        OF course they can do both. But they won’t. And they wouldn’t be effective if they try to do things they don’t believe in. They really care more about rich donors to their political campaign coffers. Ask Nancy.

  • July 26, 2018 at 12:11 pm
    Craig Cornell says:
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    Fossil fuel companies should do everything possible to boycott San Francisco.

    Close all the gas stations. Shut off natural gas pipelines. Force Tesla drivers to stop using electrical energy derived from coal, which is their primary source of electricity. Instead of getting taxpayer subsidies to pretend they are helping to stop Climate Change, force Tesla drivers to pay extra for solar and wind energy.

    Using the legal system to punish political enemies is out of control. Thanks Liberals!

  • July 26, 2018 at 1:18 pm
    TXAgent says:
    Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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    So their asking insurance carriers to NOT insure C-Stores, Gas Stations, how about no grocery stores (they use truckers to bring the product to the shelf), no taxi cabs, no truckers, no etc…. think you get the point………..Oh California!!!! Bless your Heart!

  • July 26, 2018 at 1:38 pm
    MightyQuinn says:
    Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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    San Francisco should test its water supply as it appears that some of Timothy Leary’s little magic cubes are still in it. Just keeps getting weirder and weirder in the Pity by the Bay. Crap, needles, homeless on the streets. Illegal aliens killing innocent people. And they choose to ignore that and judge the investments of insurers. As Katherine Hepburn said in On Golden Pond, “:Look!! The loons, the loons!!!”

  • July 26, 2018 at 1:45 pm
    Oh Goody says:
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    Insurance companies should stop doing business with cities run by lunatics.

    • July 27, 2018 at 1:53 pm
      Captain Planet says:
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      I disagree. I think Texans should be afforded insurance opportunity.

      • August 1, 2018 at 8:14 pm
        PolarBeaRepeal says:
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        Is there human feces in abundance in Texas city streets?

  • July 26, 2018 at 2:53 pm
    retired risk manager says:
    Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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    If this were not San Francisco, I’d think it was all a hoax. Carries will just stop bidding on the city’s business. Premiums will sky rocket. What’s next? Prohibit insurers from writing personal lines coverage for the citizens?

    But, after yesterdays announcement that the City wants to ban private companies from running cafeterias for their employees, it is safe to say that San Fran’s days are numbered.

    It will turn into Beirut by the sea. The only winners will be the private security companies.

  • July 26, 2018 at 2:56 pm
    Ross Hammond says:
    Hot debate. What do you think?
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    Interesting to see so much vitriol in the comments – this seems like a no-brainer for big European insurers like Axa, Allianz, etc. which have already made moves to get out of coal and other extreme fossil fuels. Even AIG’s 2017 annual report states “We understand that climate change potentially poses a serious financial threat to society as a whole.”

    • July 26, 2018 at 4:11 pm
      Craig Cornell says:
      Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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      Oh, c’mon. Does your life require fossil fuel energy? Of COURSE it does.

      If you don’t see the obscene Politically Correct abuse of government power, you aren’t looking very hard. The world revolves around fossil fuels and will do so for decades. Someone has to drill for it, and investing in fossil fuel companies is a no brainer – even for deep believers that Climate Change is serious. Punishing insurance companies for doing so is insane.

      (Maybe liberals can voluntarily pay for everyone else to use more expensive renewables instead. SURE!)

    • July 26, 2018 at 4:19 pm
      MightyQuinn says:
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      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • July 26, 2018 at 4:21 pm
      MightyQuinn says:
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      Come on and use your real name, Miguel.

    • July 26, 2018 at 6:50 pm
      PolarBeaRepeal says:
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      “Interesting to see so much vitriol in the comments …”

      Agree. But I understand why that is occurring. Do you?

      Unsettling to see so much vitriol in city councils of liberal run cities…

    • July 28, 2018 at 3:57 am
      Libby says:
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      Ross, don’t try to confuse people with facts. It makes their heads spin around.

  • July 26, 2018 at 3:09 pm
    Dave says:
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    With all the other problems facing SF homelessness, discarded needles, unaffordable housing, a Congresswoman preaching harassment and violence, another Congresswoman with serious mental issues, huge deficits and on and on and on, they are worried about this? What about all the carbon based fuels they use? Should they refuse to do business with themselves? how about taking the cars away form police, and buses off the streets? They need another big earthquake! Hey California, don’t do business with Hawaii or flights to or from there as their volcano is spewing all that CO2 into the atmosphere.

    • July 26, 2018 at 6:52 pm
      PolarBeaRepeal says:
      Hot debate. What do you think?
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      My very similar comment was deleted. So, I’ll simply say “ditto; they’re hypocrites trying to gain support of people who believe the Global Warming Hoax is the greatest threat to society”.

      • July 27, 2018 at 10:51 am
        Agent says:
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        Polar, the former Potus said Climate Change was the most serious threat we faced. Apparently, left supporters believed every word he said. By the way, he is up there close to the top in the lying department and did it for 8 years.

        • July 27, 2018 at 11:59 am
          Ross Hammond says:
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          So apparently all of the European insurers which are divesting their assets and will stop underwriting coal are in on the “Global Warming Hoax” (great use of caps btw)? Way to go — hope those tin foil hats keep you safe!

          • July 27, 2018 at 12:55 pm
            Agent says:
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            Drill, baby, drill, even in ANWR. Sell the LPG to Europe instead of Russia. MAGA

          • July 30, 2018 at 6:05 pm
            Craig Cornell says:
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            Did you see the big Climate Change news this week?

            For a long time, Climate Scientists said the currents in the North Atlantic ocean were shifting, resulting in warming and drying in Europe, threatening crops. All due to man-made Climate Change.

            Today, those same Climate Scientists believe it is just a normal shift in currents. And would go back to normal soon.

            So “Never Mind!” Settled Science don’t you know . . .

          • August 1, 2018 at 8:18 pm
            PolarBeaRepeal says:
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            You falsely credit “all” euro insurers with intelligent decision making re: the Global Warming Hoax. But “apparently” is your escape clause. The reasons for such BoD decisions by Euro insurers is based on the composition of their capital; i.e. % supplied by rich liberals.

  • July 27, 2018 at 1:18 pm
    MIghtyQuinn says:
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    Florida has had 150 hurricanes since the 1850’s but only the last one was attributed to climate change.

  • July 27, 2018 at 6:18 pm
    Joe says:
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    Maybe this is naive optimism from an insurance employee who clearly cuts against the grain of the industry (or at least this article’s commenters), but to me SF’s move is an example of a government (of the people) making policy that takes us away from a local maximum (insurers optimizing for investment returns) to a global one. Here’s a bold prediction that insurers will start doing this themselves. With PG&E (which effectively self-insures its wildfire liability) staring at $10B in insured wildfire losses, “climate change” is suddenly top of mind with 16 mentions in its Q2 report (vs. 4 in 2017, 2 in 2016, and 1 each in 2014-15). As the west burns, the east blows (hah!), and everywhere floods, will the industry ask itself if 50 bps is worth it?

    • July 28, 2018 at 12:09 am
      Ross Hammond says:
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      Exactly. But to be clear, some of the world’s biggest insurers are already doing this. Unfortunately none of them are US based. “According to the Sunrise Project, 17 large insurers have divested roughly $30 billion from coal companies since 2015. In addition, five large international insurers – Allianz, AXA, SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich – have stopped or limited underwriting coal projects, and AXA and Swiss Re have also stopped or limited underwriting tar sands projects.”
      So this is already a real thing in the real world. It’s only a matter of time before US insurers start to move in this direction as well.

      • July 28, 2018 at 4:04 am
        Libby says:
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        But those carriers are writing renewable energy accounts all day long. That’s where the future is. It’s unfortunate that so many have their heads buried in the sand on this issue.

        • July 29, 2018 at 12:13 pm
          Captain Planet says:
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          Libby, it’s because they are all members of Cult 45.

          • July 30, 2018 at 10:41 am
            Agent says:
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            Planet to you suffer from TDS or TAD? TAD is the new one on the block that is Trump Anxiety Disorder. You should make an appointment with a psychiatrist to find out if you have one or both of these.

      • August 1, 2018 at 8:20 pm
        PolarBeaRepeal says:
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        None of those Euro insurers are US based, so they’re adversely affected by Socialist Liberal thinking by top government officials.

  • July 30, 2018 at 12:02 pm
    TB says:
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    I am curious, who pays for all of these organizations such as the Sunrise Project. Tough for me to believe they are all grass-roots funded. Along the same lines, who paid for all of the school buses, signage, permits, and other items at the recent anti-gun, anti-Trump, rallies? Never have received an answer to these questions.

    • July 30, 2018 at 2:29 pm
      MIghtyQuinn says:
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      Special interest groups, many run by the Soros crew, who want the US to follow the open borders agenda of the EEU. When there are large crowds at the events if you drive around you also see many many busses parked conveniently away from the camera crews, not that they would film them if they saw them as its against the news agenda as well. Most of the protestors in large crowds are paid for their protesting. Signs are handed to them by the sponsors. Don ‘t tell me that this is not true as in years past I was part of those crowds with many of my friends. It was a good way to get lunch and make some money. When I married,earned a decent living, paid taxes & we began a family I had to begin to take life seriously.



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