I read with interest that insurance companies in Summit and Wasatch counties are now considering wildfire risk when setting homeowners insurance rates or even offering coverage (“Home insurance providers backing out of Summit County due to wildfire risk”). This follows recent trends in other states. For example, flood insurance costs are set to quadruple in Kentucky next year, Florida homeowners are struggling to find storm insurance, and State Farm has ceased writing new policies in California. This should serve as a wake-up call that ignoring climate change carries escalating costs over time; emphasizing the need to align with market forces driving cleaner energy solutions.
Though we are seeing major power companies accelerate their transition towards clean energy, a key element missing from the transition is permitting reform for the transmission lines needed to transport that energy. Permitting reform was included in the recent debt limit deal, but it unfortunately excluded transmission lines.
On average, it currently takes federal agencies 4.5 years to complete environmental impact statements for major new projects, a timeline most experts believe can be safely streamlined. Of the new projects awaiting permits, 95% are for clean energy — the strong demand of the market has spoken loud and clear!
I urge Utah’s congressional representatives Blake Moore, Chris Stewart, John Curtis and Burgess Owens to work across the aisle to pass bipartisan energy permitting reform that makes it to the president’s desk and is signed into law. Though I wasn’t a fan of tying the debt ceiling to future funding decisions, it likely resulted in a better budget than a pure partisan budget from either side. Let’s use the same negotiation principles to get the best ideas from all parties into a bill that helps secure the health and safety of our children’s future!
David Kam, Salt Lake City