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<font size="+2"><font face="Calibri"><i><b>December 27</b></i></font></font><font
size="+2" face="Calibri"><i><b>, 2023</b></i></font><font
face="Calibri"><br>
</font> <br>
<i>[ Shouting activists "We are young, we are livid!"]</i><br>
<b>New breed of climate protesters vows to take fight to ‘cowards’
of US politics</b><br>
Climate Defiance, trying to make the climate crisis a top issue in
2024 election, isn’t afraid to anger ‘cowards’ and ‘criminals’<br>
Callum Jones in New York<br>
Tue 26 Dec 2023 <br>
<i> [ dramatic video]
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://twitter.com/ClimateDefiance/status/1733244938660282572">https://twitter.com/ClimateDefiance/status/1733244938660282572</a>
"We're fucked because of you"</i><br>
A climate protest group backed by a cadre of Hollywood film-makers
is preparing to take action against “cowards” and “criminals” of all
political stripes as the 2024 election approaches.<br>
<br>
Climate Defiance, which disrupted events featuring a string of Biden
administration officials this year, and targeted Darren Woods, CEO
of ExxonMobil, in December, will consider protesting at events
staged by both Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail after
concluding that its “very disruptive” action was bearing fruit.<br>
<br>
In an interview, Michael Greenberg, the group’s co-founder, told the
Guardian it will also focus “more and more” on state-level
demonstrations designed to deter policymakers from approving fossil
fuel projects.<br>
<br>
Since demonstrating outside the White House correspondents’ dinner
in the spring, its activists have staged protests at events
featuring a string of senior federal officials, including the
transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and the energy secretary,
Jennifer Granholm.<br>
<blockquote>Climate Defiance<br>
@ClimateDefiance<br>
This is huge. This is absolutely monumental. We just shut down an
event honoring Exxon CEO Darren Woods. The whole room fled. We
showed up & prevented this monster from uttering a word. We
will resist him with all we've got. There is no choice.<br>
</blockquote>
Climate Defiance has also interrupted two separate public
appearances by the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. It
is now recruiting for an organizing director to help coordinate
“disruptive, nonviolent direct action to resist fossil fuel
extraction”, according to a job advertisement.<br>
<br>
“If we were a new group asking nicely, we’d be a random no-name
group and the White House could just have conversations with groups
a hundred times our size who did the same thing,” said Greenberg,
30. “Why would they talk to us?”<br>
<br>
Instead, the group claims its demonstrations at high-profile events
have got it a seat at the table. Ali Zaidi, the national climate
adviser, has been on the phone. It also targeted David Turk, the
deputy energy secretary, who invited Greenberg to a meeting days
later.<br>
<br>
“The reason they’re willing to meet with us is they know we are
really intense and really strident,” said Greenberg. He said the
fundamental goal of his group was to build the climate crisis into a
top US political issue, “along with racial justice and kitchen table
economic issues”.<br>
<br>
The administration is taking note – and Climate Defiance is
increasingly confident this interest can be traced all the way to
the Oval Office. “Congressman Ro Khanna said that the president is
talking about us,” Greenberg added.<br>
<br>
A Department of Energy spokesperson said: “To solve the climate
crisis, we must engage with a diverse variety of stakeholders.
Candid, substantive and constructive discussions among states, local
leaders and climate organizations can create paths to work together
to address this existential crisis threatening humanity, create
economic opportunity for our nations and save our planet.”<br>
<br>
The Climate Emergency Fund, which has backed disruptive climate
groups including Extinction Rebellion, has provided Climate Defiance
with about $225,000 in funding. The group has received “roughly” the
same amount from other donors, Greenberg said.<br>
<br>
The fund’s directors include the film-makers Rory Kennedy, daughter
of former US attorney general and senator Bobby Kennedy, and Adam
McKay, director of The Big Short, Vice and Don’t Look Up. Jeremy
Strong, the Succession actor, joined the board in December.<br>
<br>
As the presidential election campaign intensifies, Climate Defiance
plans to deploy its playbook on the trail in an effort to drive the
climate crisis up the agenda. “We’ll try to make climate change a
top three issue in this election cycle,” said Greenberg.<br>
<br>
The group has targeted Democrats in the Biden administration because
“they’re the administration in power”, he said. Will it turn its
attention to Republican events at polling day draws closer? “We just
might,” Greenberg replied, with a laugh. “I will not comment on
that.”<br>
<br>
The Federal Reserve and Powell, a Trump appointee, will also remain
in the group’s sights. Climate Defiance wants the central bank to
crack down on the lenders financing fossil fuel projects, but the
Fed has so far insisted such moves would be “inappropriate”.<br>
<br>
“The banks are getting a free pass to torch the planet, and the Fed
is doing nothing about it,” said Greenberg. Powell, in his view, is
“either asleep at the wheel or in bed with the fossil fuel CEOs”.<br>
<br>
While a spokesperson for the Fed declined to comment, Powell’s
personal frustration over the protests has been evident. “Just
closing the fucking door,” he could be heard saying on a hot mic
while he was ushered offstage in November.<br>
<br>
Reappearing a few minutes later, Powell did not directly address the
protest. “OK, where was I?” he said.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/26/climate-defiance-change-protesters-confrontation">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/26/climate-defiance-change-protesters-confrontation</a><br>
<br>
<p>- -</p>
<i>[ You could join ]</i><br>
<b>Climate Defiance </b><br>
WE DO NOT DO PETITIONS. WE DO DIRECT ACTION.<br>
Our leaders have failed to save us. So we will save ourselves.<br>
We are young. We are livid. We are no longer willing to be
disposable.<br>
We have been sold out by our politicians. We have been betrayed. But
we refuse to lose hope.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.climatedefiance.org/">https://www.climatedefiance.org/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Investopedia news ]</i><br>
<b>The Costs Of Climate Change Are Already Here: In Your Homeowners
Insurance Bill</b><br>
By DICCON HYATT <br>
Published December 26, 2023<br>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Climate change is partly responsible for a recent surge in
insurance premiums, and the costs will continue to mount in
the future.</li>
<li>Climate change makes storms, extreme heat, floods, and other
catastrophes more likely.</li>
<li>Insurers are passing the increasing costs of paying claims
on to consumers.</li>
<li>If you’re one of many people reeling at how quickly your
insurance bills are rising, don’t just blame inflation—blame
climate change. </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
The growing impact of climate change is a major factor in why
insurance bills have been soaring lately, researchers and industry
insiders say. Climate change is making storms, floods, and wildfires
more frequent and severe. While the loss of lives is the most severe
consequence of these events, there are financial costs as well.<br>
<br>
For example, insurance companies have to pay out more claims—costs
that are ultimately passed on to consumers one way or another.
Inflation, plus climate change costs, have raised premiums for car
insurance 19% over the last year according to government data, and
pushed homeowner’s insurance premiums up 21% between May 2022 and
2023, according to an analysis by Policygenius.<br>
“There are two things that drive insurance loss costs, which is the
frequency of events and how much they cost,” said Robert Passmore,
assistant vice president of personal lines at the Property Casualty
Insurers Association of America. “So, as these events become more
frequent, that's definitely going to have an impact.”<br>
<br>
To be sure, it’s difficult to put an exact price tag on climate
change since no one knows with certainty whether any single
hurricane or fire would have happened if not for global warming, or
exactly how much worse it was because of climate change. Economists
tend to think of it in terms of probability: What’s the statistical
chance that any given storm or heat wave was caused by climate
change?<br>
<br>
Research suggests the number is high, and getting higher. A 2021
report by the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization
found that out of 77 extreme weather events between 2015 and 2017,
62 had “significant human influence.”1<br>
A more conservative estimate, chalking up 50% of natural disaster
damage to climate change, would cost many billions of dollars. In
the U.S., there have been 25 climate and weather disasters costing
at least $1 billion so far in 2023, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<br>
Natural disasters have already pushed the insurance business to the
point of crisis in disaster-prone states.<br>
<br>
Earlier this year, insurance giants State Farm and Allstate (ALL)
stopped issuing new homeowners policies in California, saying the
state wouldn’t allow them to raise rates enough to compensate for
elevated wildfire risk. The move was imitated earlier this year by
smaller firms Merastar Insurance Company, Unitrin Auto and Home
Insurance Company, Unitrin Direct Property and Casualty Company, and
Kemper Independence Insurance Company, according to reports.2 <br>
<br>
AAA, Farmers, and several other insurance companies have reportedly
pulled out of Florida. (It’s not just natural disasters though—the
Insurance Information Institute blames the Florida crisis on a spate
of fraudulent roof-repair schemes that’s driven up litigation
costs.)<br>
<br>
In both states, homeowners no longer able to get normal insurance
have had to turn to state-run programs that serve as “insurers of
last resort.” California’s option charges more and provides less
coverage than private options.<br>
Indeed, the extent of insurance premium increases varies widely by
state. Florida homeowners had their premiums rise by 35% in 2023,
while those in Vermont only rose 10% according to Policygenius.3 <br>
<br>
Even if you don’t live in a state that’s been hit by a major natural
disaster lately, you still might end up paying for it. Reinsurance
companies, the companies that insure insurance companies against
losses, spread out the costs of paying for disasters.<br>
<br>
“If the reinsurance company has a huge loss in California, they're
going to recoup that loss by upping everybody else's reinsurance in
other high-risk areas,” said Jesse M. Keenan, a professor of real
estate and urban planning at Tulane University, an expert on climate
change’s effects on the housing market.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.investopedia.com/the-costs-of-climate-change-are-already-here-in-your-insurance-bill-8414294">https://www.investopedia.com/the-costs-of-climate-change-are-already-here-in-your-insurance-bill-8414294</a><br>
<p>- -<br>
</p>
[ Business Insurance and Risk Management ]<br>
<b>10. Property insurance rates surged during 2023</b><br>
Matthew Lerner<br>
December 25, 2023 <br>
The pricing surge in most major lines of insurance coverage that
began in 2018 continued in 2023, with commercial property insurers
leading the charge.<br>
<br>
The closely watched quarterly pricing reports produced by the
Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers showed sharp increases in
property rates in the first few months of the year, and while
increases moderated slightly as the year progressed, property buyers
continued to see price hikes that far outpaced inflation.<br>
A story detailing changes in first-quarter insurance pricing was the
10th-most-read risk management-related story on the Business
Insurance website in 2023.<br>
<br>
Commercial property premiums increased more than 20% in the first
quarter, while umbrella liability rates rose 8.5%, commercial auto
was up 8.3%, general liability up 4.6%, and workers compensation
rates fell slightly, according to the Council.<br>
<br>
Property insurers themselves had seen sharp increases in their own
coverage with property reinsurance rates at Jan. 1, 2023. <br>
<br>
The rise in primary property rates continued through the third
quarter.<br>
<br>
Forecasts are for further rate hikes during 2024, including
continued property insurance rate increases. Liability lines may
also see rising rates.<br>
<br>
Moderating inflation in 2024, though, may eventually help ease some
of the rate hikes, according to one report. And more modest property
increases at year-end reinsurance renewals could help primary
insurers.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20231225/NEWS06/912361750/10-Property-insurance-rates-surged-during-2023">https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20231225/NEWS06/912361750/10-Property-insurance-rates-surged-during-2023</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<font face="Calibri"><i>[The news archive - an idea often discussed
-]</i></font><br>
<font face="Calibri"> <font size="+2"><i><b>December 27, 2008 </b></i></font>
</font><br>
<font face="Calibri"> </font> December 27, 2008: WeeklyStandard.com
posts an article from self-professed "global warming agnostic"
Charles Krauthammer calling for a so-called "net zero gas tax." In
the article, which is also published in the magazine's January 5,
2009 issue, Krauthammer writes:<br>
<blockquote>"High gas prices, whether achieved by market forces or
by government imposition, encourage fuel economy. In the short
term, they simply reduce the amount of driving. In the longer
term, they lead to the increased (voluntary) shift to more
fuel-efficient cars. They render redundant and unnecessary the
absurd CAFE standards--the ever-changing Corporate Average Fuel
Economy regulations that mandate the fuel efficiency of various
car and truck fleets--which introduce terrible distortions into
the market. As the consumer market adjusts itself to more
fuel-efficient autos, the green car culture of the future that
environmentalists are attempting to impose by decree begins to
shape itself unmandated. This shift has the collateral
environmental effect of reducing pollution and CO2 emissions, an
important benefit for those who believe in man-made global warming
and a painless bonus for agnostics (like me) who nonetheless
believe that the endless pumping of CO2 into the atmosphere cannot
be a good thing."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/article/17031">http://www.weeklystandard.com/article/17031</a><br>
<br>
<p><font face="Calibri"><br>
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We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Every
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</font> <font face="Calibri"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
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--------------------------------------- <br>
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Delivered straight to your inbox every morning, Hot News
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more at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
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