An important Republican is quoted by Fox News Digital as saying that “climate alarmists and activists” in the Biden administration are abusing their position.
EXCLUSIVE: Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are looking into whether or not the Biden administration has plans to compel insurance firms to support its climate agenda.
On Friday, every Republican in the House and Insurance Subcommittee sent a letter to Federal Insurance Office (FIO) Director Steven Seitz, led by Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Warren Davidson, expressing their concern with the FIO’s recent moves to gather climate-related data from property and liability insurers. (R-Ohio).
It was argued that the Treasury Department’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) shouldn’t do this because of state insurance regulators. The agency can only collect data for traditional regulatory purposes after consulting with state insurance regulators, as noted in the letter to Seitz, per the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
According to a statement given by Davidson to Fox News Digital, “climate alarmists and activists are abusing the Federal Insurance Office to get climate data.” This is done by these groups in order to avoid state authorities. An expert has expressed concern that Congress’s attempts to protect consumers under the Dodd-Frank legislation might be undermined by the FIO’s failure to engage in good faith with state insurance regulators.
The Cornell Legal Information Institute reports that the Dodd-Frank Act established the FIO to monitor the U.S. insurance industry for weaknesses that might lead to catastrophic events. Contrary to popular belief, this organization must “consult with the states on insurance issues that are important on a national or international level.”
New FIO regulations violate “the letter and spirit of Dodd-Frank,” according to Republican panelists like Davidson.
To achieve its aims and ensure the continued viability of state-based insurance regulation, the authors conclude that “requiring FIO to work with state insurance regulators is important.” Our investigation suggests, however, that FIO has disregarded this mandate in order to further its own agenda.
In August of 2021, the FIO solicited feedback on a proposal to poll the insurance industry about the economic threats presented by climate change. Following an announcement of data collection intentions in October, the FIO requested public feedback by the middle of December. All 213 insurance providers would have to combine client data for every single zip code in the country.
Then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen termed it “an important step” toward understanding the financial impact of climate change on the United States. She cited Hurricane Ian’s destruction in Florida as evidence that action was needed on the part of the authorities.
Progressive groups like the Center for American Progress and Public Citizen were in support of the change, but the insurance industry and the state insurance regulators that make up the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) were opposed.
State insurance regulators are on the front lines of planning for and responding to natural catastrophes, safeguarding policyholders, and ensuring sure insurance markets run properly, according to a letter from NAIC officials to the Treasury Department in November. For almost a decade, the NAIC has funded a climate change group comprised of state insurance regulators.
Because “it is unclear how this data will be combined with other information to show climate risk in a specific way,” the group claims, it is highly likely that any study looking for climate danger will misinterpret and produce incorrect results. “Treasury is asking for specifics about the property insurance industry,” they write.
The letter to Seitz was signed by Reps. Bill Posey (FL), Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO), Ralph Norman (SC), Scott Fitzgerald (NY), Andrew Garbarino (NY), Michael Lawler (NY), Mike Flood (NE), Monica De La Cruz (TX), and Erin Houchin (IN).
The FIO wasn’t eager to issue a comment.