The Coastal Property Insurance Crisis

June 2024
Citation:
54
ELR 10443
Issue
6
Author
Jeffrey Peterson, Alice Hill, Jessica Dandridge, Carolyn Kousky, and Dave Jones

More severe storms and rising sea levels pose a threat to U.S. coastal communities, including millions of homes and businesses. Insured damages to coastal property are steadily increasing, insurance premiums are increasing, and private insurance companies have stopped serving some coastal states. Taken together, the consequences of declining availability and increasing costs constitute a coastal property insurance crisis. On March 13, 2024, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts to discuss the crisis and consider what programs and policies insurance providers and governments could adopt to best guide the coastal property insurance market toward desired national goals. This Dialogue presents a transcript of that discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, and space considerations.

Jeffrey Peterson (moderator) is a Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law Institute and Co-Facilitator of the Coastal Flood Resilience Project. Alice Hill is the David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. Jessica Dandridge is Executive Director of the Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans. Carolyn Kousky is Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund. Dave Jones is Director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the UC Berkeley School of Law Center for Law, Energy, and Environment.

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