Weekly Roundup: Trump Admin Scraps Climate Rules, While States Step Up
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2025
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: Trump Admin Scraps Climate Rules, While States Step Up
Each week, the Insurance Fairness Project highlights the latest developments in the national climate-driven property insurance crisis. For more insurance updates, follow us on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Bluesky.
1/ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS ABOUT TO MAKE THE INSURANCE CRISIS MUCH WORSE: The administration has moved to scrap the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” the legal foundation of a wide range of climate regulations and environmental protections. Without it, the EPA will have cover to revoke emissions rules for automobiles, power plants, and manufacturers. Here’s what that means for insurance:
Carbon emissions are fueling the extreme weather driving today’s property insurance crisis.
More emissions mean more frequent and severe weather events like storms and floods.
These lead insurers to raise premiums faster, cut coverage, and pull out of markets, leaving more families exposed when they need help the most.
Denying the impact of greenhouse gases doesn’t make them disappear, it just shifts the financial fallout onto homeowners, renters, and taxpayers.
2/ STATE LEGISLATION TO SHIFT COSTS TO FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES: As climate disasters drive up the price of home insurance, lawmakers in California, Hawaii and New York have proposed legislation to collect damages from fossil fuel companies whose pollution made climate change worse. Extreme weather disasters driven by climate change have led to higher insurance costs and higher costs for taxpayers.
The Guardian: These US states want polluters to pay for the rising insurance costs of climate disasters
“The reality is that Fair plan premiums keep going up, and for many families it’s the only option left after private insurers have pulled out and left people behind,” Sierra Kos, founder of the disaster survivor network Extreme Weather Survivors, told the Guardian. “Survivors should not be the ones forced to carry the financial burden of disasters that fossil fuel companies knowingly helped create.”
LA Times: California bill would make fossil fuel companies help pay for rising insurance costs
More bills on the move in California: SB 876 could raise homeowners' insurance rates by 15-20%. AB1795 would require state regulators to establish public health standards for the testing and cleanup of homes affected by wildfire smoke contamination.
3/ NEW INSURANCE BILLS: On Thursday, Georgia State Senator Nabilah Parkes, who is running to become Insurance Commissioner, introduced a package of six bills to lower insurance prices, make pricing more equitable, control rate hikes, and bring accountability to the insurance industry. The bills would:
Require prior approval for insurance rate changes.
Prohibit zip code discrimination in setting auto insurance rates.
End the use of credit scores to calculate insurance premiums.
Repeal tax breaks for insurance companies and data centers.
Ban former insurance commissioners from lobbying the Department of Insurance for five years.
Require insurers to integrate climate risk analysis in policies and provide policy discounts to property owners who mitigate risks (i.e., home hardening).
Parkes’ proposal on climate resilience mirrors recently passed legislation in Colorado, where experts called it the most “significant property insurance law” to pass in several years. Similar legislation has been introduced or is expected to be introduced in New York, Washington, Idaho, and elsewhere.
4/ INSURANCE COMMISSIONER RACE IN CALIFORNIA IS ‘ON FIRE’: Rising insurance costs and cancellations are impacting California voters' finances. A recent poll shows 92% of likely voters want lower insurance costs and increased availability, making affordability the central issue in the state's Insurance Commissioner race.
Politico: The insurance race is on fire
Sierra Lindsey Kos has seen the shift firsthand. As co-founder of Extreme Weather Survivors, a group advocating for disaster victims, she said insurance issues — particularly rates and the claims process, both directly overseen by the commissioner — have become an immediate post-disaster priority for the people she works with.
5/ FLOODING MITIGATION EFFORTS IN HOUSTON FALL SHORT: Houston residents are pushing back on the city’s 2026 budget, which increases funding for the Houston Police Department even as flooding grows more frequent and more severe. In a city repeatedly hit by severe storms and rising waters, shifting resources away from flood control leaves neighborhoods more vulnerable and signals misplaced priorities.
Prism: Flooding mitigation efforts in Houston waver as police budgets increase
“We do believe that flooding, infrastructure, and disasters is a key issue that’s going to bring people together for what we deserve…”
6/ ‘HUGE MILESTONE’ FOR MAUI WILDFIRE SETTLEMENT: A recent Hawaii Supreme Court ruling clears the way for Maui fire survivors to receive payments from a $4 billion settlement, potentially within weeks. The distribution of this compensation had been held up by various legal efforts from insurance companies seeking to claim a portion of the settlement.
Hawaii News Now: Supreme Court ruling deemed ‘huge milestone’ for Maui wildfire settlement
“I hope the insurance companies get the message…”
Resources
Insurance Fairness Project: Polling – Voters Want Their Government to Address the Property Insurance Crisis
Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project: Mapping the Home Insurance Crisis
Consumer Federation of America: Overburdened: The Dramatic Increase in Homeowners Insurance Premiums and its Impacts on American Homeowners
Brookings Institution: Homeowners insurance in an era of climate change
Consumer Federation of America and Climate and Community Institute: Penalized: The Hidden Cost of Credit Score in Homeowners Insurance Premiums
Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen: Rising Property Insurance Premiums: The Uneven Risks to Household and Systemic Financial Stability
Climate and Community Institute (CCI): Insurers of Last Resort: Why Today’s FAIR Plans Need a Redesign to Address the Home Insurance Crisis
Center for Climate Integrity: How Big Oil is Fueling the Insurance Crisis And Why State Policymakers Should Act
Yale Law Journal: The Uninsurable Future: The Climate Threat to Property Insurance, and How to Stop It
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The Insurance Fairness Project is an information hub dedicated to offering insights into the home insurance crisis, exploring its drivers and highlighting solutions alongside issue experts and community advocates.
