Column: Time to panic? The home insurance market in California is collapsing because of climate change

As another legislative session draws to a close in Sacramento, the problem lawmakers failed to fix is one of the most urgent facing Californians: the slow-moving collapse of the property insurance market as costs from climate disasters mount. Throughout the United States, in different geographies, we’re reaching a point where climate change is driving to an uninsurable future,” said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and current director of UC Berkeley’s Climate Risk Initiative. First, Lara will probably work to bolster the state’s FAIR plan, the insurance of last resort for many — including Newsom, who owns a home covered by it. “I’m calling on the United States Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to ensure the funding is there to deal with the immediate crises, as well as our long-term commitments to the safety and security of the American people.” This isn’t the first time FEMA has been in this predicament and it probably won’t be the last, leaving taxpayers to continually bail out the agency, so the agency can continually bail out communities destroyed by climate-change-fueled disasters. “And as whole communities lose access to insurance, the impact is going to be felt all the way through our economy.” That would be the greatest of disasters, and a place where California doesn’t need to lead on climate.