Private companies use NOAA and USGS data extensively for modeling risks. NOAA weather alerts save lives. These are public goods.

www.ft.com/content/33a4...

The mass firing of both new hires and recently promoted senior staff within #NOAA, including mission-critical and life-saving roles at the National Weather Service (#NWS), is profoundly alarming.
1/11

Fed Vice Chair, Michael Barr: “Often the structure and regulation of insurance markets prevents risk from being appropriately priced, limiting the ability of market signals to influence development and adaptation in high-risk areas and contributing to the buildup of risks.” Bingo.

So ... what's waiting in the queues?

Ah.

emp.lbl.gov/queues

Spatial data folks… AER data editor saying that they’ve already seen impacts on census bureau shapefiles !! With some of these possibly being difficult to access or taken down.

We have to archive everything!

Maybe we should coordinate to create a source of archived data for researchers?

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/o...
My coauthor Ishita and I wrote a piece that ran today in the NYT about how we need to have risk-based pricing in insurance & mortgages.

So sad to read about the fires. It may take months/yrs to recover.

Climate losses are rising, with largely unknown implications for banks, insurers & HHs. This is why I get mad when academics imply that climate research is just "trendy". These issues are here to stay & we need to understand it.

Gambling for resurrection: Financially distressed oil companies drill using more toxic/polluting approaches.

Judson Boomhower’s *amazing* JMP shows that forcing them to buy liability insurance ex-ante gets them to internalize these costs & thus reduce pollution.

www.propublica.org/article/oil-...

Most of the major American banks (besides JPMC) have quit the Net Zero Banking Alliance - now Goldman Sachs, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are reportedly out.

Importantly- they’ve all kept their interim decarbonization targets for 2030.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Good way to start the New Year:

@katharinehayhoe.com's Climate + Finance starter pack bsky.app/starter-pack...

Going into 2025, reasons to be hopeful about #climate:

Politics has changed the returns to greenwashing, but not green investment…as long as the IRA is preserved. Green jobs being in red states makes this likely IMO. + interest in permitting reform for transmission bottlenecks.

At nearly $3 billion, storm restoration costs for 2024 estimated by Duke Energy appear to be the highest for any US electric utility ever for a single storm season (Hurricane Sandy likely higher in aggregate, but not for one utility). Via S&P: www.spglobal.com/marketintell...

An interesting story! Strongly relates to our paper on on Fannie & Freddie, and insurance insolvency in Florida. A lot of people think they are fully insured, but find after the fact that their damages aren’t covered. Extremely sad.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Happy to share my opinion piece with Stijn on how the GSEs should price climate risks, and the risks that emerge when they don't.

www.marketwatch.com/story/your-h...

“All we imagine as light“ Is amazing. It’s a collaboration between Indian & European production houses + the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix at Cannes. Really visually stunning, with a compelling plot, & subtle but on-point political commentary (IMO). Best new film I’ve seen in a while.

Mark Cuban gets it. See my op ed from last year:

www.nytimes.com/2023/05/07/o...