Letter: Forum with insurance commissioner was engaging

Editor,

Last week, one of Washington’s nine statewide elected officials, Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer, visited Langley to speak at a public forum on a timely topic – climate change and insurance risk.

Many people think about climate change in terms of environmental damage or public health risks, but there’s another, often overlooked issue: insurance costs. Commissioner Kuderer explained how, as coastal flooding, fires and other disasters become more frequent and severe, insurers are rethinking how, where and if they offer coverage. In short, climate change is threatening the insurance industry’s entire business model. Consequently, the insurance industry now does some of the most sophisticated data analysis and modeling on climate impacts.

Commissioner Kuderer answered questions about her office, about the commissioner’s role in consumer protection and whether Washington homeowners are already experiencing the huge insurance rate increases other states are seeing. One of her key pieces of advice to homeowners was to shop around for insurance. And she also spoke about how climate impacts – floods, fires, heat waves – directly affect access to health care and affordability.

It was an excellent exchange between an elected official and those who elected her – in other words, one of the keys to a healthy democracy: citizen engagement and government accountability. Kuderer’s public forum was the first this year on Whidbey by a statewide elected official.

Of course, another key to a healthy democracy is an informed community – i.e., local journalism. Without local journalism how can the community stay informed on issues close to home, on what elected officials are doing and saying? For example, how could much of the South Whidbey community know about this public forum on a critically important issue since the South Whidbey Record chose not to cover it?

Kim Drury

Whidbey Island Democratic Club

Linda Irvine

Whidbey Climate Action