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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Federal insurance of coastal property has formed a major impediment to planning for climate change because it externalizes the risk to the rest of us, leaving coastal communities less willing to confront the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Both houses of congress have now passed changes which improve the FEMA flood insurance program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/05/511137/a-perfect-storm-of-support-for-flood-insurance-reform-coalition-praises-congressional-action/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/05/511137/a-perfect-storm-of-support-for-flood-insurance-reform-coalition-praises-congressional-action/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The changes raise the cap on annual premium increases from 10% to 20%, add a minimum deductible, restrict subsidies for and development of repetitively lost properties, and mandate consideration of climate change in calculating risk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/95065/changes-to-flood-insurance-program-could-mean-high/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/95065/changes-to-flood-insurance-program-could-mean-high/</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>At a conference last month I heard people from FEMA assert that the program would never be altered because wealthy coastal property owners had too much clout with congress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The FEMA people were excessively pessimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Environmental groups, insurance companies, deficit hawks, and real estate interests (who like things stable, perhaps) united to support the legislation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>If similar reforms could be made to Citizens’ Property, a Florida state insurance corporation which similarly protects coastal owners, planning for the coasts could proceed more seriously and usefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Those of us who live near the coast, as my family has for over 30 years and my wife’s family did for much of the past century, will see their properties decrease in value while their insurance rates will rise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>They deserve sympathy and support as we confront the coming changes.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Citizens Property, now the largest property insurer in Florida, has indebted all holders of auto and home insurance in the state for losses to coastal properties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Pressure is building to increase rates, now capped at 10% annual rise for the majority of existing policies.
</font><a href="http://www.pnj.com/article/20120602/NEWS01/306020015/Citizens-Insurance-changes-weighed-meeting-Tampa"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.pnj.com/article/20120602/NEWS01/306020015/Citizens-Insurance-changes-weighed-meeting-Tampa</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This year saw a policy limit of $1 million, lifting of rate increase caps for new policies and some existing policies, cancellation of builder’s risk policies, and other changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://staeblerappraisal.com/citizens-property-insurance-summary-of-2012-changes-%E2%80%93-so-far%E2%80%A6"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://staeblerappraisal.com/citizens-property-insurance-summary-of-2012-changes-%E2%80%93-so-far%E2%80%A6</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Citizens Property is actuarially unsound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It was devised because insurers fled the state when the government would not allow them to charge for risks increasing with climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It is time to re-privatize coastal insurance so that the state may begin to confront its future more fully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The trauma to the state and its social structure will be greatly diminished if we acknowledge and respond to the risks.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>New Orleans, New York, and Miami are among the world’s 20 cities most at financial risk from climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2012-07-06/top-20-cities-with-billions-at-risk-from-climate-change.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2012-07-06/top-20-cities-with-billions-at-risk-from-climate-change.html</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco said that current heat waves and wild fires have send requests for climate change data and projections “skyrocketing.”
</font><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2012/07/06/official_more_in_us_convinced_of_climate_change/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2012/07/06/official_more_in_us_convinced_of_climate_change/</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Japan has initiated a generous feed-in tariff to support residential solar power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/07/asia-report-japan-enters-renewable-era-with-major-developments??cmpid=WNL-Friday-July6-2012"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/07/asia-report-japan-enters-renewable-era-with-major-developments??cmpid=WNL-Friday-July6-2012</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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