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| May 03, 2007 | |||
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| LIEBERMAN, COLLINS CALL ON PUBLIC INSURERS TO ANALYZE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING | |||
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WASHINGTON –After holding a hearing examining the impacts of climate change on public and private insurers, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Me., have written federal officials to hold them to their commitment to conduct new analysis of global warming’s impact on the federal crop and flood insurance programs.
At a Committee hearing on April 19, 2007, entitled, “Dangerous Exposure: The Impact of Global Warming on Private and Federal Insurance,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report – commissioned by Lieberman and Collins two years earlier – that found that the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security can and should do a better job of assessing the fiscal impacts that unchecked global warming will have on the taxpayer-funded Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and National Flood Insurance Program. Through those programs, American taxpayers are exposed to many billions of dollars in claims for the losses that result from the very weather catastrophes that are projected to intensify due to global warming. The Senators - in letters to Michael Buckley, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mitigation for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Eldon Gould, Administrator of the Risk Management Agency at the U.S. Department of Agriculture - called for the agencies to lay out a plan for how they will factor in the potential losses that climate change could create, and submit the plan to Congress. Full text of the letters follows: May 2, 2007 Michael Buckley Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mitigation Federal Emergency Management Agency U.S. Department of Homeland Security 500 C St., S.W. Washington, DC 20472 Dear Mr. Buckley: We are writing to follow up on a request made at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing of April 19, 2007, entitled “Dangerous Exposure: The Impact of Global Warming on Private and Federal Insurance.” At that hearing, John Stephenson of the General Accountability Office submitted a report entitled: “Climate Change: Financial Risks to Federal and Private Insurers in Coming Decades Are Potentially Significant.” That report stated: We recommend that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Administrator of the Risk Management Agency and the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness to analyze the potential long-term implications of climate change for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and the National Flood Insurance Program, respectively, and report their findings to the Congress. This analysis should use forthcoming assessments from the Climate Change Science Program and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to establish sound estimates of expected future conditions. Key components of this analysis may include: (1) realistic scenarios of future losses under anticipated climatic conditions and expected exposure levels, including both potential budgetary implications and consequences for continued program operation and (2) potential mitigation options that each program might use to reduce their exposure to loss. You testified that DHS agreed with the recommendations. At the hearing, we requested that your agency submit a report to Congress, separate from any annual reports, that implements GAO’s recommendations. We are writing now to ask that you provide to this Committee, in writing, a date by which you will be able to complete this report and a description of the analysis that will be included in the report. We believe that given the substantial potential financial liability to the federal government due to climate change, it is of the utmost importance that the NFIP begin to factor in the potential losses that climate change could create. Thank you for your consideration of this request. We look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely, Joseph I. Lieberman Susan M. Collins Chairman Ranking Member May 2, 2007 The Honorable Eldon Gould Administrator Risk Management Agency U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250 Dear Mr. Gould: We are writing to follow up on a request made at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing of April 19, 2007, entitled “Dangerous Exposure: The Impact of Global Warming on Private and Federal Insurance.” At that hearing, John Stephenson of the General Accountability Office submitted a report entitled: “Climate Change: Financial Risks to Federal and Private Insurers in Coming Decades Are Potentially Significant.” That report stated: We recommend that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Administrator of the Risk Management Agency and the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness to analyze the potential long-term implications of climate change for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and the National Flood Insurance Program, respectively, and report their findings to the Congress. This analysis should use forthcoming assessments from the Climate Change Science Program and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to establish sound estimates of expected future conditions. Key components of this analysis may include: (1) realistic scenarios of future losses under anticipated climatic conditions and expected exposure levels, including both potential budgetary implications and consequences for continued program operation and (2) potential mitigation options that each program might use to reduce their exposure to loss. You testified that USDA agreed with the recommendations. At the hearing, we requested that your agency submit a report to Congress, separate from any annual reports, that implements GAO’s recommendations. We are writing now to ask that you provide to this Committee, in writing, a date by which you will be able to complete this report and a description of the analysis that will be included in the report. We believe that given the substantial potential financial liability to the federal government due to climate change, it is of the utmost importance that the FCIC begin to factor in the potential losses that climate change could create. Thank you for your consideration of this request. We look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely, Joseph I. Lieberman Susan M. Collins Chairman Ranking Member -30- |
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340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510