A class-action lawsuit filed by Farmers Insurance Co. against the city of Chicago raises questions on municipal responsibility to prepare against 'foreseeable risk.'
Gail Sullivan of the Washington Post details the events that led up to the suit. Between April 2013's state of emergency declared by Governor Pat Quinn after an 'epic deluge', insurance companies, led by Farmers, investigated and found Chicago-area municipalities negligently operated and managed drainage systems inadequate to prevent flooding of insured properties.
The plaintiffs allege "'During the past 40 years, climate change in Cook County has caused rains to be of greater volume, greater intensity and greater duration than pre-1970 rainfall history evidenced'... [cites] a climate change action plan adopted in 2008 that acknowledges the link between climate change and increased rainfall."
Reports one insurance analyst in the article: "I think what the insurers are saying is: 'We’re in the business of covering unforeseen risks. Things that are basically accidents,'" Ceres insurance industry analyst Andrew Logan told NPR. "'But we’re now at a point with the science where climate change is now a foreseeable risk.'"
FULL STORY: Climate change: Get ready or get sued
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
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World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
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U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
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New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
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AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
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