Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Susan Crawford

Ben Holt 🇨🇦 @beanjammin.bsky.social · 5h

We are all going to miss property insurance when it's gone. Mortgage? Not without insurance. Just like that your property value goes up in smoke even if it's not literally burning.

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 6h

California’s FAIR Plan seeks 36% rate increase as wildfire risk and insurer exits surge. With $650B in exposure but just $1.5B cash on hand, the math no longer works. Homeowners face costly coverage, rising assessments, and a volatile market going forward. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

California's insurer of last resort seeks 36% rate hike

As authorities solve one mystery—who set the fire that devastated Pacific Palisades—another deepens: how to make the math work for home insurance in California

open.substack.com

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 6h

California’s FAIR Plan seeks 36% rate increase as wildfire risk and insurer exits surge. With $650B in exposure but just $1.5B cash on hand, the math no longer works. Homeowners face costly coverage, rising assessments, and a volatile market going forward. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

California's insurer of last resort seeks 36% rate hike

As authorities solve one mystery—who set the fire that devastated Pacific Palisades—another deepens: how to make the math work for home insurance in California

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 5d

Join @scrawford.bsky.social at @politicsprose.bsky.social in DC today at 5 p.m. for a conversation with Jennifer Anne Moses (YOU'VE TOLD ME BEFORE, @uwiscpress.bsky.social)! It's our Spotlight Event! www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/jen... #booksky

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

rachelruysch.bsky.social @rachelruysch.bsky.social · 6d

Sellers’ prices are not yet adequately reflecting the burden that higher insurance costs (and thus a limited universe of possible buyers) pose for these houses. @scrawford.bsky.social
susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/whats-a-ho...

What’s a house in LA really worth?

Southern California houses are sitting on the market. Part of the reason is physical climate change.

susanpcrawford.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Dr. Jeff Masters @drjeffmasters.bsky.social · 8d

Climate change is going to hit the economy: “Even though this [crisis] is more regional [than the Great Financial Crisis],” says Burt, “it’s still something that’s pretty terrible.” He wishes we could prepare. Otherwise, he says, we’ll see “disorderly results” similar to what happened in 2008-2011.”

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 8d

Climate risk hammering LA’s housing market: insurance is harder to get and more expensive, homes stuck on the market, price cuts happening. Insurers and the state’s FAIR Plan reel. Market repricing is underway. Investors and the Fed still looking the other way. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

What’s a house in LA really worth?

Southern California houses are sitting on the market. Part of the reason is physical climate change.

open.substack.com

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 8d

Climate risk hammering LA’s housing market: insurance is harder to get and more expensive, homes stuck on the market, price cuts happening. Insurers and the state’s FAIR Plan reel. Market repricing is underway. Investors and the Fed still looking the other way. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

What’s a house in LA really worth?

Southern California houses are sitting on the market. Part of the reason is physical climate change.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

rachelruysch.bsky.social @rachelruysch.bsky.social · 14d

But if you are investing in coastal real estate in the US and expecting to make money, you are closer to participating in a perp market than you may think. @scrawford.bsky.social
susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/investing-...

Investing in coastal real estate? Might as well bet on crypto futures.

Buying a beach house may sound safer than putting your money in the crypto perpetual futures market — whatever that is! But both are risky bets.

susanpcrawford.substack.com

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 14d

Investing in a beach house? You’re betting—just like traders in crypto perpetual futures. There are risks you can’t control, from price swings to back-to-back climate disasters. In 2025, it's closer to speculating than you might think. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

Investing in coastal real estate? Might as well bet on crypto futures.

Buying a beach house may sound safer than putting your money in the crypto perpetual futures market — whatever that is! But both are risky bets.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Michael Wara @michaelwara.bsky.social · 20d

The wildfire version of this is playing out in Los Angeles as we speak. When you burn down 15,000 urban structures, you coat everything downwind (ie the rest of the city) - inside and out - in asbestos, lead and arsenic among other things.

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 21d

Toxic landfills and storm surges don’t mix: when hurricanes hit, they can unleash leachate, methane, and poisons into water and soil. But bond markets ignore the risks. Column today - open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

What happens when major storms hit toxic dumps?

A leaking landfill can ooze toxins, contaminate groundwater, and spew methane gas. Are markets accounting for the growing risks?

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

OneDishwasher @onedishwasher.bsky.social · 21d

Good article! Like how you mentioned the SRS (my old stomping grounds), weather impacts can stir some things up decades after the event.
Just like the Mt. St. Helens dust this week

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 21d

Toxic landfills and storm surges don’t mix: when hurricanes hit, they can unleash leachate, methane, and poisons into water and soil. But bond markets ignore the risks. Column today - open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

What happens when major storms hit toxic dumps?

A leaking landfill can ooze toxins, contaminate groundwater, and spew methane gas. Are markets accounting for the growing risks?

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Rob Majteles @robmajteles.bsky.social · 27d

What will it take for investors to price climate risk?

“Betting on bonds, ignoring climate risk: mind-numbing that there's just so little attention on the credit side in terms of this [climate] risk in the municipal bond market” @scrawford.bsky.social

susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/betting-on...

Betting on bonds, ignoring climate risk

Municipal bonds might seem safer than the stock market. But if climate risk isn’t priced in, the bond market might be another bubble that could burst.

susanpcrawford.substack.com

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · 29d

Right now, municipal bonds are booming, but few investors—or rating agencies—are facing up to long-term climate risk. With extreme weather rising and climate threats mounting, today’s muni bond mania could be tomorrow’s bubble. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

Betting on bonds, ignoring climate risk

Municipal bonds might seem safer than the stock market. But if climate risk isn’t priced in, the bond market might be another bubble that could burst.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

H-Net Reviews @hnetreviews.bsky.social · Sep 9

New book review:
Price on Crawford, Susan P.: _Charleston: Race, Water, and the Coming Storm_. Pegasus Books, 2023. Published by H-Environment.
Read here: networks.h-net.org/node/20124674

Crawford, Susan P.. Charleston: Race, Water, and the Coming Storm. : Pegasus Books, 2023. xi + 371 pp. $28.95 (cloth), ISBN 9781639363575. Reviewed by Erica Price (Arizona State University) Published on H-Environment (September, 2025) Commissioned by Daniella McCahey (Texas Tech University) Printable Version: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=61768

networks.h-net.org

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Rob Majteles @robmajteles.bsky.social · Sep 7

Markets’ capital allocation functions distorted b/c we fail to demand impact risk pricing.

Excellent ex @scrawford.bsky.social: credit scores, not physical risk, drive insurance. But, higher credit scores subsidized to live in disaster risk areas. Why?

susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/how-insura...

How insurance pricing obscures the real cost of climate change

Credit scores, not disaster risk, play a major role in home insurance prices — muting what could be an important market signal of physical risk

susanpcrawford.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Alex Robel @iceclimate.bsky.social · Sep 5

“…researchers say the cost of natural disaster risk…is passed on disproportionately by insurance companies to people with lower credit scores.”

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · Sep 5

Most U.S. home insurance rates aren’t driven by climate risk but mainly by credit scores. Crucial price signals about danger are getting lost, while lower-credit (often lower-income) Americans pay the most as risks climb. Needed: pricing transparency from insurers. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

How insurance pricing obscures the real cost of climate change

Credit scores, not disaster risk, play a major role in home insurance prices — muting what could be an important market signal of physical risk

open.substack.com

2 4 8

Reposted by Susan Crawford

Susan Kaye Quinn is Writing Solarpunk 🌞🌱 @susankayequinn.bsky.social · Sep 5

Every time I see Pritzker pop up, he's doing nerdy/cool things to help people: in this case, home insurance rates, which are quickly escalating due to #climatechange and ofc punishing the disadvantaged the most.

great piece by @scrawford.bsky.social
susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/how-insura...

** Gov. Pritzker doesn't want Illinois policyholders to be subsidizing Florida beachfront homeowners. In his July letter, he wrote "As states across the country face even more extreme weather than we do, we need to make sure Illinois homeowners are not paying for losses that companies experience in other states." Remember this moment. Much more of this is ahead.

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · Sep 5

Most U.S. home insurance rates aren’t driven by climate risk but mainly by credit scores. Crucial price signals about danger are getting lost, while lower-credit (often lower-income) Americans pay the most as risks climb. Needed: pricing transparency from insurers. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

How insurance pricing obscures the real cost of climate change

Credit scores, not disaster risk, play a major role in home insurance prices — muting what could be an important market signal of physical risk

open.substack.com

2 5

Reposted by Susan Crawford

Graeme L Scott @glscott.bsky.social · Sep 2

phys.org/news/2025-09...

The ocean carbon sink is ailing: 10% drop in CO₂ absorption seen during record 2023 marine heat wave

Measurements analyzed by an international research team led by ETH Zurich show that the global ocean absorbed significantly less CO₂ than anticipated during the unprecedented marine heat wave in 2023.

phys.org

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

John Schwartz @jswatz.bsky.social · Sep 2

“For decades, industries facing regulation have employed the same playbook: hire contrarian experts, selectively cite favorable research, ignore contrary evidence, and claim that mainstream science is too uncertain to justify action.”

www.theclimatebrink.com/p/the-mercha...

The merchants of doubt are back

But this time, it's the U.S. government pushing doubt

www.theclimatebrink.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Climate Risk Economics @climateeconomics.bsky.social · Sep 1

"These are both global catastrophic risks that will affect the lives and well-being of many, "causing suffering to at least one billion people or a total loss of 10% of global gross domestic product" as Johan Rockstrom, director of the PIK, said at the beginning of July"...

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · Aug 28

Wall Street’s AI bubble gets headlines, but there's important news about accelerating warming. New studies about abrupt Antarctic melting and a looming collapse of Atlantic ocean currents—flooding, disruption, and suffering for millions are closer than we think. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

The risk that really matters isn't on Wall Street

The market fell on news suggesting the AI bubble could be about to burst. If only people paid as much attention to news about climate risks.

open.substack.com

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Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · Aug 28

Wall Street’s AI bubble gets headlines, but there's important news about accelerating warming. New studies about abrupt Antarctic melting and a looming collapse of Atlantic ocean currents—flooding, disruption, and suffering for millions are closer than we think. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

The risk that really matters isn't on Wall Street

The market fell on news suggesting the AI bubble could be about to burst. If only people paid as much attention to news about climate risks.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Carnegie Endowment @carnegieendowment.org · Aug 20

🧵As Americans grow more vulnerable to extreme weather and natural disasters, the country’s infrastructure will have to adapt. In two new Carnegie papers, @scrawford.bsky.social explains what’s at stake and charts a path forward.

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Dr. Jeff Masters @drjeffmasters.bsky.social · Aug 18

While the new DOE assessment is known by climate-savvy people to be full of BS, it “will be used by developers and local officials along the coast to tamp down any forward-looking planning aimed at aligning land use rules and investments in infrastructure with the physical risks we face.”

Susan Crawford @scrawford.bsky.social · Aug 18

The new DOE report tries to downplay rising sea levels, but independent analyses and NOAA data show that sea level rise is not only happening, it’s picking up speed along the U.S. East Coast. Ignoring this will have consequences for U.S. financial stability. open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

Sea levels are rising. A new DOE report downplays the threat.

As I mark my 100th column, the government’s latest climate report misleads and denies. Investors may be the ones to demand change.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Susan Crawford

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · Aug 18

"Under discussion are plans to hold a public debate about climate science, write a line-by-line rebuttal of the National Climate Assessment and ready a counterattack against climate scientists critical of last month’s Energy Department report." 🤪

Trump team readies more attacks on mainstream climate science

The plans include a public debate on global warming. Scientists say that falsely implies the major tenets of climate research are unsettled.

www.eenews.net

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