Homeowner’s insurance protects what may be our largest investment. This insurance is required by lenders and protects them financially. Without homeowner’s insurance, you cannot get a mortgage. If you lose your homeowner’s insurance, you must scramble to find replacement coverage. In the worst case, a lender can demand full repayment of your loan.

Our nation is experiencing a crisis in homeowner’s insurance denials because the profit/loss models of insurance companies are incompatible with an acceleration in damaging weather-related events such as flooding, landslides, windstorms and wildfires. In response, insurance companies are denying renewal of Homeowner’s Insurance.

The New York Times Daily Podcast covered this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B-obc1GlWI.

In the community where I grew up, half of the homeowners have had their homeowner’s insurance canceled due to “excessive wildfire risk.”

Elected officials are scrambling to respond to this crisis in the immediate term. But in the long term, we must address the drivers of this increase in weather-weirding-linked property damage.

One major driver is the burning of fossil fuels. We must reduce our overall carbon footprint to slow down (and eventually reverse) the increasing weather-linked damage. We must also adapt to these extreme weather events by building wisely.

The Climate and Sustainability Advisory Committee (https://www.sanjuancountywa.gov/1880/Climate-and-Sustainability-Advisory-Comm) was formed to help San Juan County achieve a more sustainable future. This committee is seeking your thoughts on climate and sustainability.

Please respond to the Climate Survey here: https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/climate-action.

Your thoughts are so important.

Janet Alderton

Orcas Island