California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is sponsoring legislation to establish a ranking system for heat waves, the California Department of Insurance announced on Friday as the international climate conference wraps up in Scotland.
The legislation is jointly authored by Assembly Members Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley) and Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella). State Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) will be a principal co-author of the legislation.
Ranking heat waves is a recommendation in a report on climate insurance that Lara and the California Climate Insurance Working Group released earlier this year. The report is aimed at protecting low-income communities, seniors and those without insurance.
California’s latest Climate Assessment projects that heat waves will be more intense, longer, and more frequent in coming years. From 1980 to 2000, there were a reported average of six annual extreme heat days in Los Angeles. By 2050, that number is projected to be 22 days. In 2020, emergency room visits reportedly increased by 10 times the normal number during record-breaking heat as high as 121 degrees in Los Angeles County. California’s 2021 heat wave broke records across the state.
The proposed legislation calls for California to develop a publicly accessible ranking system for heat waves with categories based on heat intensity and health impacts that would provide early warning to communities and enable public policy makers to craft prevention strategies and risk reduction measures.
“Just as we have air quality alerts, categories for tropical hurricanes, and red flag warnings for wildfires, California needs a way to warn our residents about extreme heat waves which will only grow deadlier in the years ahead,” Lara said in a statement. “There is no insurance against heat. If we act now to implement a ranking system like we have for other disasters, we can help prevent deaths from this silent killer, especially those most at risk like our seniors.”
Lara also announced that the CDI will also undertake a study to identify the extreme heat insurance “protection gap” in healthcare and other areas for affected communities in Southern California, which is another recommendation from the Climate Insurance Working Group’s report.
The proposed legislation will be formally introduced when the California State Legislature reconvenes for its 2022 session in January.
Related:
- Scientists Call for Urgent Climate Change Action, Citing ‘Tipping Point’
- OSHA Seeks Input for Worker Safety Rule on Heat Hazards
- Overheated, Underprotected: Climate Change Is Killing U.S. Farm Laborers
Topics California
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