Thursday, January 23, 2014

How To Deal with Climate Change #3: Stop Subsidizing Bad Choices

Part of an ongoing series on how to react to Climate Change (since we won't be able to stop it.)  One thing we can do (and are starting on baby steps towards) is to stop subsidizing bad location choices.
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There are a number of ways we do this, and most subsidies should be ended, or the costs carried by the beneficiaries.  
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Take people who live in fire areas.  They should be required to clear the brush around their homes or the price of their insurance should sky rocket.  Look at the picture below.
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This owner cleared the brush around his house and made it much easier for the fire department to do their work.  This type of clearing is now required in parts of Montana, Arizona and California.
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In Los Angeles if the brush is not cleared, the homeowner is issued a citation and a fine - and checked up on with fines that continue to multiple. (It may be the same in other locations, but I don't know.)
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In some ways, I understand the entire "it's my land and I will do what I want", which is fair, but then your insurance prices should go up And you shouldn't get disaster funds.  People are not here to subsidize bad choices.
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And with climate change, some of those bad choices of a homeowner may lead to deaths of first responders.
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Another example of subsidizing bad location choices are the beach houses along the East Coast.  Living right on the beach is great, but paying to rebuild them year after year shouldn't be the taxpayers issue.  The government sponsored insurance subsidy should be reduced over time.
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Oddly enough this is happening - and the outcry is massive.
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On the other hand, the government high risk pools for some insurance forms make perfect sense.  Not for the government to insure them, but for the government to pool those in an area, and find a single insurer for them (often having to backstop loses above some number).
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The cost to benefit can be weighed if climate change increases the occurrence of the disaster.  For example, Hurricane Insurance in Florida, Flood insurance in Louisiana or Earthquake insurance in California all may make sense or made sense at one time.   If sea levels rise, it might make sense to stop insuring people in Louisiana for floods.  Give them their last payout and say - you stay here or you can go, but we can no longer insure you at this location.
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Other disaster insurance pools may have to grow.  For example, it may be that climate change is increasing the occurrence and severity of tornadoes.  Instead of responding ad hock, we should probably plan for more disasters due to tornado activity with increased insurance and design standards (at least to be part of the insurance pool).
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I say this, because after a disaster, insurers often refuse to cover the same area for the same problem.  In that case, government pooling of at risk clients is probably nessecary.
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Finally there are disincentives that government bureaucracy does  impose on some intelligent choices - that should stop.
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For example, with regard to the sand dune issue, highlighted in the pictured to the right, on Cape Cod, the headline is that the Sand Dunes, after being built at government expense, have been wiped out.
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Reading the articles though, you find that one major reason they have been wiped out, is that the local governments didn't allow any planting on the sand dunes(!).  Which means it is less a sand dune and more a sand castle.
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Normally, this is a stupid choice that will lead to bad results.  Not just bad results as in the dune washes away, but actual costs as the government pays for sand dune rebuilding AND will probably cover any extra damage as part of Natural Disaster aid.  My response would be that it these towns and residents block preventative measures, the government shouldn't subsidize your choices.
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(Full disclosure, in follow up - a few actual beach property owners in this town are having to pay for replacement sand, but it is washing away faster than they can replace it.  I don't mean this as wrap on Massachusetts or Cape Cod - but as a general way we react to increased beach erosion due to climate change.)
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It's harsh after it happens, but our first response should not always be "We Will Rebuild".