Coalition forms to oppose flood insurance plan
NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - A coalition of
environmentalists, consumer advocates and insurers has formed
to oppose proposed legislation that would expand a federal
flood insurance scheme.
The measure would add coverage for wind damage, which the
coalition says could prove costly for taxpayers and send the
wrong message about developing environmentally-sensitive,
catastrophe-prone areas.
Proponents of revamping the federal plan say home and
business owners need to have access to wider coverage, after
many property owners were left without adequate coverage in the
wake of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which caused record damage
along the Gulf Coast.
The coalition — which counts the Consumer Federation of
America, the National Wildlife Federation and the Reinsurance
Association of America among its members — laid out its stand
in a letter to influential senators this week.
“Taxpayers nationwide will be left to pay the cost of wind
damage, which would more than triple the government’s exposure
under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),” the
coalition said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by
Reuters.
The group says expansion of NFIP will result in incentives
to build in unsafe or environmentally fragile areas. It says
the forecast of tripled exposure under a federal plan that
included wind coverage was confirmed by the American Academy of
Actuaries.
Others groups in the coalition include Defenders of
Wildlife, Environmental Defense, Friends of the Earth, the
National Wildlife Federation, Republicans for Environmental
Protection, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste,
the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Freedom Works, Taxpayers
for Common Sense and the Association of Bermuda Insurers and
Reinsurers.
“Although our groups have differing priorities, we all
agree that expanding the NFIP program to include wind damage
insurance would overwhelm the (scheme),” said the group.
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