AFFORDABLE HOME insurance is getting increasingly hard to find in wildfire-prone areas in the West. Climate change, along with flammable fuel buildup, is causing bigger, more frequent and more destructive wildfires, putting more and more homes at risk. Meanwhile, climate change is also driving other costly disasters, such as hurricanes and flooding.
In response, insurance companies are raising individuals’ rates, sometimes by thousands of dollars per year. They’re even dropping some policyholders altogether — right before fire season. According to a report from the nonprofit climate research firm First Street Foundation, 39 million homes nationwide are at risk of losing their insurance due to climate hazards.
Dave Jones, who served as California’s insurance commissioner from 2011 to 2019, has some ideas that could help the situation. As commissioner, he was responsible for regulating the nation’s largest state insurance market. Today, Jones is
