As millions of homes in the U.S. are exposed to increasing flood risks, the lack of insurance coverage can threaten the sustainability of the mortgage system as we know it. Yanjun (Penny) Liao and Philip Mulder share insights from their recent paper “What’s at Stake? Understanding the Role of Home Equity in Flood Insurance Demand”.…Read More
Sea level rise is an inherent threat to the physical integrity and long-term existence of coastal historic places. The need for action is widely accepted, but the question of how to appropriately balance sea level rise adaptation and historic preservation goals varies across communities.…Read More
Can private insurance encourage homeowners to adapt their properties in order to reduce escalating flood losses from climate change? A recent study finds substantial demand for a novel supplementary flood insurance product that funds low-cost adaptations to reduce future damage when rebuilding after a flood—and shows that auto-enrollment increases that demand.…Read More
The Risk Center spoke with CA State Senator Ben Allen and Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law about proposed state legislation SB83 to create a revolving loan program, allowing California counties and communities to purchase vulnerable coastal properties.…Read More
The city of Washington DC’s Environmental Impact Bond (EIB) offering, the first of its kind within the United States, presents a new blueprint for capitalizing municipal resilience projects while better managing the risk associated with severe storms and flooding. Alison Milman, a UPenn Undergrad, speaks to Benjamin Cohen from Quantified Ventures about this EIB.…Read More
Originally in The Hill, Risk Center Co-Directors, Howard Kunreuther and Robert Meyer, discuss cognitive biases, like myopia and inertia, that prevent people from taking climate action like investing in solar power in this op-ed.…Read More
Lexie Shah, a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, offers an overview of multiple environmental justice challenges and suggests needed policy shifts at the federal, state, and local levels to help overcome them.…Read More
Monica Volodarsky, a senior at the Wharton School, argues that the US should transition from its current electrical system to the smart grid, a network that utilizes digital communication technology to react to changes in electricity usage, in this blog post.…Read More
As the sixth largest city in the United States, Philadelphia faces a myriad of risks. Last fall we sat down with Adam Thiel, Director of the Office of Emergency Management of the City of Philadelphia, to learn more about his role with our home city. …Read More
Originally in The Hill, Carolyn Kousky suggests that the incoming Biden administration could have an Ecosystem Restoration Corps to provide meaningful employment during the COVID-19 downturn and help restore America’s ecosystems.…Read More
