Ricardo Lara is the California insurance commissioner only a fossil fuel company could love
Opinion by Sam Mellins, New York Focus, published in the San Francisco Chronicle 1-30-22
SNIP
Due to its size and its impact on the rest of the country, (California) is perfectly positioned to wield a key, under-discussed tool for fighting climate change: insurance regulation.
And yet as loss of life and property damage grow in the state with each passing season, California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, has been backpedaling on the issue — after receiving more than $17,000 in donations and gifts from fossil fuel interests during his 2018 campaign.
SNIP
Insurance regulation is an important front in the battle against climate change. That’s because insurance companies fuel global warming by underwriting fossil fuel projects and investing the premiums they collect from consumers in fossil fuel companies. State insurance commissioners have the power to curtail both of these behaviors.
SNIP
“Lara’s been an incredible disappointment,” said Ross Hammond, senior strategist at the climate advocacy group Sunrise Project. “He has done almost nothing in regards to climate change.”
LINK (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Ricardo-Lara-is-the-California-insurance-16816880.php
$17,000 is chump change, though the article further mentions:
• $65,000 of contributions from oil and gas companies that he had accepted over the course of his career, including during his campaign for insurance commissioner.
• During the campaign and after his election, Lara also accepted over $270,000 in campaign donations from insurers and individuals with ties to the insurance industry.
• Lara accepted a gift of two field-level tickets to a Beyoncé concert from Sempra Energy, an $11 billion California-based natural gas and electricity company that several months ago agreed to pay $1.8 billion for its role in the worst natural gas leak in U.S. history, near Los Angeles.
• More examples at the link
In all fairness, the article continues to mention that Lara's Department of Insurance has not been entirely silent on climate, stating that in July 2021, the department released a climate report containing recommendations for “policies to reduce the costs from wildfires, extreme heat, and flooding.”
BUT THEN CONTINUES,
while the report contained numerous suggestions for mitigating the impact of climate change it was silent on ways that insurance regulation can be used to fight climate change directly. No mention was made of fossil fuels, oil, natural gas or divestment, the insurance industry’s investments in fossil fuels and underwriting of fossil fuel projects, or how these activities might be curtailed.
-----------------
Never imagined a key element in fighting climate change would include insurance underwriting. But it makes sense.
New York Focus sounds legit, but then again, it's hard to tell these days. If the above is indeed factual we shouldn't be so quick to automatically re-elect Lara.
Any thoughts on this or the New York Focus?