Revolving Door Project senior researcher Kenny Stancil joined Economics for the People to discuss his recently published article, “Forsake Some, Fleece the Rest,” with Dollars & Sense editor Chris Sturr.
Key insights from the piece:
- Despite mounting climate damages, U.S. home insurers are still raking in record profits by abandoning people in higher risk areas and hiking premiums nationwide. This decreases their liabilities and increases the amount of money they have to invest in financial markets.
- Insurers are profiting from a crisis they helped create. They continue to underwrite and invest in fossil fuels, the leading cause of climate chaos. Meanwhile, intensifying extreme weather is giving the industry cover to offload risk and inflate prices across the board.
- For consumers, the waning availability and affordability of home insurance is a genuine crisis. For insurers, on the other hand, climate breakdown presents a short-term opportunity to maximize profits.
- “Pricing climate risk” does not mitigate it. For that, we need comprehensive disaster risk-reduction measures, including a fossil fuel phaseout, improved land-use planning, and transformative investments in the built environment (including new housing in safer places).
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE (36:00 – 50:30).
Photo: An aerial view of damage from the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County, California. Taken in January 2025 by the California National Guard and licensed under CC BY 2.0.