Limiting liability in the greenhouse: Insurance risk-management strategies in the context of global climate change

Stanford Journal of International Law

Volumn 43 A, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 251-317

  Ross, Christina ^a   Mills, Evan ^b   Hecht, Sean B ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO   (United States)

^b LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 35448941967     PISSN: 07315082     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (372)

1. EVAN MILLS & EUGENE LECOMTE, FROM RISK TO OPPORTUNITY: HOW INSURERS CAN PROACTIVELY AND PROFITABLY MANAGE CLIMATE CHANGE 14 (2006) available at http://www.ceres.org/pub/docs/Ceres_Insurance_Climate_%20Report_082206.pdf
2. There are many specific insurance contract types that more tightly define the types of liabilities covered or not covered by insurance. These include: Absolute Liability, Active Malfunction Product Liability, Advertising Injury, Atomic Energy Reinsurance, Bodily Injury Liability, Broad Form Nuclear Energy Liability Exclusion Endorsement, Business Liability, Completed Operations, Directors and Officers Liability, Errors and Omissions, Farm Liability, General Liability, Legal Expense, Limited Pollution Liability, Malpractice, Mutual Atomic Energy Reinsurance Pool and Radioactive Contamination Insurance, Pollution Liability, Professional Liability, Property Damage Liability, Public Liability, Special Multi-Peril, Umbrella Liability, Water Damage Legal Liability, and Wrap-Up Liability.
3. Evan Mills, Insurance in a Climate of Change, 308 SCIENCE 1040 (2005) [hereinafter Mills, Insurance];
4. Pier Vellinga et al., Insurance and Other Financial Services, in CLIMATE CHANGE 2001: IMPACTS, VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION. CONTRIBUTION OF WORKING GROUP II TO THE THIRD ASSESSMENT REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (James J. McCarthy et al. eds., 2001).
5. The Role of NAIC in Responding to Climate Change: Testimony to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Climate Change & Global Warming Task Force (Dec. 8, 2006) (testimony of Evan Mills).
6. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Summary for Policymakers (2007)
7. [hereinafter IPCC, Summary for Policymakers] This report, the first of three to be released in 2007, was produced by some 600 authors from forty countries. Over 620 expert reviewers and a large number of government reviewers also participated. Representatives from 113 governments reviewed and revised the Summary line-by-line during the course of the week before adopting it and accepting the underlying report.
8. See infra Exhibit 2: Key 2007 Findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group 1 (The Physical Science Basis).
9. See infra Exhibit 1: Examples of Impacts Resulting from Projected Changes in Extreme Climate Events, and Associated Insurance Implications.
10. EVAN MILLS, RICHARD J. ROTH JR. & EUGENE LECOMTE, AVAILABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF INSURANCE UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE: A GROWING CHALLENGE FOR THE U.S. 2 (2005), available at http://www.ceres.org/pub/docs/ Ceres_insure_climatechange_120105.pdf.
11. THE CENTER FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, CLIMATE CHANGE FUTURES: HEALTH, ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS 119 (Paul R. Epstein & Evan Mills eds., 2005), available at http://www. climatechangefutures.org/pdf/CCF_Report_Final_10.27.pdf.
12. Peter Bohan, Wall Street Eyes Heart of Darkness: Global Warming, WASH. POST, Dec. 13, 2006, available at http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N11331109.htm (quoting Win Neuger, chief executive at AIG Global Investment Group).
13. Robert P. Hartwig, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Presentation Before the Insurance Information Institute: CPCU, Liability Trends, Issues and Jury Verdicts: Liability & Excess Casualty Markets in the Post-Katrina World (Oct. 20, 2006), available at http://www.iii.org/ media/presentations/liabilitytrends.
14. MILLS & LECOMTE, supra note 1, at 7;
15. See Mills, Insurance, supra note 3, at 1040-44.
16. MILLS & LECOMTE, supra note 1, at 2.
17. Id.;
18. Mills, Insurance, supra note 3, at 1040-44.
19. IPCC, Summary for Policymakers, supra note 5 (oudining climate change factors with human patterns of development which will compound future climate change losses).
20. CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT LIMITED, FINANCIAL RISKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 8 (2005) available at http://www.abi.org.uk/Display/File/Child/506/ Technical_Annexes_climatetechnical.pdf.
21. Dan Hoffman, Business Interruption, 3 (unpublished article on file with author).
22. Id. at 2
23. Paul Q. Watchman & Nicholas Rock, Presentation to the Insurance Industry Forum: Climate Change and Insurance: Risks and Opportunities (Nov. 21, 2006) (on file with author).
24. Robert Ceniceros, U.N. Climate Report Stirs Liability Fears, BUS. INS., Feb. 5, 2007, at 1.
25. Id.
26. Id.
27. Editorial, Rising Temperatures May Boost Liabilities, BUS. INS., Feb. 5, 2007, at 8.
28. See Hartwig, supra note 11 (stating that the ratio was 1.10:1 for commercial auto; 1.76:1 for product liability, and 1.16:1 for other liability lines (including Directors and Officers coverage)).
29. Meg Green, Study: Insurers Facing more Lawsuits Than Any Other Sector, BEST S REV., Jan. 1, 2007, at 74.
30. Id.
31. INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE, INSURANCE FACT BOOK 2007, 44-45 (2007). This includes coverage protecting against legal liability resulting from negligence, carelessness or failure to act; product liability; and vehicle liability. Losses stemming from weather extremes, or other types of claims linked to climate change could trigger claims under these particular insurance lines.
32. Id.
33. See Daniel Farber, Basic Compensation for the Victims of Climate Change, 155 U. PA. L. REV. (forthcoming 2007) (giving an intriguing examination of possible mechanisms for compensation).
34. ACCA SOUTH AFRICA & KPMG SOUTH AFRICA, ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES: PAYING FOR THE PAST, PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE 26 (2002), available at http://www.accaglobal.com/pubs/publicinterest/activities/ library/sustainability/sus_pubs/paying_past.pdf (reporting on environmental liabilities in South Africa).
35. See MILLS & LECOMTE, supra note 1, at 7.
36. 2 Curbs Eye Liability Relief to Bolster Industry Support, INSIDE EPA, Sept. 21, 2006;
37. PIERRE H. DUVAIR, CAL. ENERGY COMM'N, CLIMATE CHANGE AND CALIFORNIA 15 (2003), available at http://www.energy.ca.gov/ reports/2003-11-26_100-03-017F.PDF.
38. Rick Cornejo, Katrina's Next Wave: Agents' E&O Coverage Could Become the Next Liability Target Nationwide, BEST'S REV., Jun. 1, 2006, at 22.
39. Leonard v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 438 F.Supp.2d 684 (S.D. Miss. 2006).
40. Insurance Information Institute, Catastrophic Hurricane Claims and Losses, in the United States, 1999-2005, http://www.iii.org/media/facts/ statsbyissue/hurricanes/ (last visited March 8, 2007).
41. Kathleen Day, Storm Surge Is Flood, Judge Says, Standard Insurance Won't Cover Damage, WASH. POST, Aug. 16, 2006, at D1.
42. See generally Myles Allen, Liability for Climate Change: Will it ever be possible to sue anyone for damaging the climate?, 421 NATURE 891, 891-92 (2003) (discussing the ways in which climate change is clearly a factor in flooding and other weather-related impacts, and the likelihood of increased insurance premiums and lower housing values as a result, and noting difficulties in establishing the cause of climate change-related impacts with sufficient precision to allocate responsibility effectively and fairly).
43. In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, 466 F.Supp.2d 729 (E.D. La. 2006].
44. Id. at 768-69 (citing plaintiffs' complaint).
45. Id. at 756-63.
46. Obey, supra note 31, at 2.
47. Id. at 4.
48. See Conn. v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 406 F. Supp. 2d 265 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (dismissing as non-justiciable the claims of states that power plants' contributions to climate change constitute a public nuisance);
49. Thomas W. Merrill, Global Warming as a Public Nuisance, 30 COLUM.J. ENVTL. L. 293 (2005) (identifying challenges associated with nuisance application to climate change litigation);
50. Jennifer Rohleder & Jillian Button, The Legal Dimensions of Climate Change: Conference Report, 6 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW & POLICY: CLIMATE LAW SPECIAL EDITION, Winter 2006, at 57 (oudining general hurdles to climate change litigation and questions of litigation's effectiveness in controlling GHG emissions), available at http://www.wcl.american.edu/org/sustainabledevelopment/2006/sdlp_winter_2006. pdf?rd=1.
51. See Insurance Information Institute, The Insurance Industry's Contribution to the Legal Services Industry, http://www.economicinsurancefacts. orc/economics/industries/legal/. In this table, the insurance industry's trade association compiled information from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' database of insurers' annual statements, showing that over the period 2003-2005, defense and cost containment expenses (including legal fees, costs of investigation, costs of engaging expert opinion, and other related litigation and pre-litigation expenses) averaged over 54% of all insurers' expenses in products liability lines, over 42% in the liability portion of commercial general peril lines, and over 25% in general liability lines. Thus, independent of insurers' indemnity obligations, litigation and pre-litigation defense costs are extremely significant to liability insurers' bottom line in fields where litigation is prevalent.
52. Id.
53. Id.
54. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT& INNOVEST STRATEGIC VALUE ADVISORS, CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT REPORT 2006, GLOBAL FT500: ON BEHALF OF 225 INVESTORS WITH ASSETS OF $31 TRILLION (2006), available at http://dynamiccities.squarespace.com/files-documents/ climate-change-papers/Carbon%20Disclosure%20Project_report2006.pdf
55. [hereinafter CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2006].
56. Global Roundtable on Climate Change, The Path to Sustainability: A Joint Statement by the Global Roundtable on Climate Change 4-12 (Feb. 20, 2007) (providing the organization's joint statement and a list of signatories), available at http://www.eardinstitute.columbia.edu/grocc/documents/ GROCC_statement_2-27_1.pdf.
57. See INVESTOR RESPONSIBILITY RESEARCH CENTER & INTERFAITH CENTER ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, 2003 SHAREHOLDER PROXY SEASON OVERVIEW: SOCIAL AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RESOLUTION TRENDS at 1-3 (2003), available at http://www.sriadvocacy.org/files/proxy_season_overview_2003. PDF;
58. INVESTOR RESPONSIBILITY RESEARCH CENTER & SHAREHOLDER ACTION NETWORK OF THE SOCIAL INVESTMENT FORUM FOUNDATION, TOWARDS A SHARED AGENDA: EMERGING CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL ISSUE TRENDS FOR THE 2002 PROXY SEASON AND 2001 ISSUES REVIEW (2002);
59. Charles J. Bennett & Richard P. Wells, Global Climate Change: Fact or Fiction ? It Doesn 't Matter - The Issue Is Here To Stay 23 EXECUTIVE ACTION at 1 (2002);
60. Ricardo Bayon, US Investors Enter Climate ChangeFray, ENVTL. FIN., May 31, 2002, available at http://www.newamerica.net/publications/Articles/2002/ us_investors_enter _climate_change_fray.
61. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT & INNOVEST STRATEGIC VALUE ADVISORS, VALUE AT RISK: CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FUTURE OF GOVERNANCE (2002);
62. Bennett & Wells, supra note 4747, at 3.
63. INVESTOR RESPONSIBILITY RESEARCH CTR. & S'OLDER ACTION NETWORK OF THE SOC. INV. FORUM FOUND., supra note 47, at 5, 9, 12.
64. Vellinga, supra note 3 (outining climate change implications on insurance risk to all industries);
65. INNOVEST STRATEGIC VALUE ADVISORS, CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT: CARBON FINANCE AND THE GLOBAL EQUITY MARKETS, at 1 (2003)
66. [hereinafter CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003];
67. Evan Mills, The Coming Storm: Global Warming and Risk Management, RISK MGMT., May 1998, at 20.
68. Telephone interview with Douglas Cogan, Deputy Director, Social Issues Service, Institutional Shareholder Services (Feb. 6, 2007) (outlining trends in climate change related shareholder resolutions filed from 1990 to 2007).
69. CERES ET AL., INVESTOR NETWORK ON CLIMATE RISK CHART: 2007 PROXY SEASON CLIMATE-RELATED RESOLUTIONS (2007);
70. Goodwin Procter LLP, Assessing SEC Requirements after Kyoto, ENVTL. L. ADVISORY, Feb. 2005, available at http://www.goodwinprocter.com/PublicationSearch.aspx;
71. News Release, Social Investment Forum, Social Investment Forum: 2006 Environmental, Social Shareholder Proxy Resolutions Up from 2005, with Emphasis on Global Warming, Toxics and Political Donations, (Apr. 25, 2006) available at http://www.socialinvest.org/2006ShareholderProxySeasonPreview.htm.
72. Press Release, Ceres, 2006 Proxy Season Produces Positive Results on Climate Change (July 14, 2006) available at http://www.ceres.org/news/ news_item.php?nid=209.
73. CERES ET AL., supra note 52.
74. Interview with Cogan, supra note 51;
75. telephone interview with Rob Berridge, Program Manager, Investor Programs, Ceres, Boston, Mass. (Feb. 19, 2007)
76. INVESTOR RESPONSIBILITY RESEARCH CTR. AND S'HOLDER ACTION NETWORK OF THE SOC. INV. FORUM FOUND., supra note 47 (oudining rising shareholder concern of cost of compliance with regulations and clean up costs associated with violating environmental laws).
77. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50 (outlining shift of environmental resolutions filed from issues-based groups to pension fund investors).
78. For a thoughtul discussion of environmental risk disclosure trends and obligations, see Ann Johnston Sc Angeles T. Rodriguez, Environmental Disclosure: Come Clean in the Green Wave or Face the Heat, 20 WTR NAT. RESOURCES & ENV'T 3 (2006).
79. 17 C.F.R. § 229.101 (2007).
80. 17 C.F.R. § 229.103 (2007).
81. 17 C.F.R. § 229.303 (2007).
82. Concept Release on Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Operations, Exch. Act Release No. 6211, 52 Fed. Reg. 13,715, 13,717 (Apr. 26, 1987).
83. See Jeffrey A. Smith & Matthew Morreale, Disclosure Issues, in GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND U.S. LAW 453, 458-68 (Michael B. Gerrard ed. 2007) (providing a detailed discussion of SEC disclosure issues and climate change).
84. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, § 302, 15 U.S.C.A § 7241 (2007).
85. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Proxy Voting Records by Registered Management Investment Companies, 68 Fed. Reg. 6563-85, 6563 (Feb. 7, 2003).
86. William Baue, Companies Skirt Disclosures of Environmental Liabilities, SOCIALFUNDS, Apr. 8, 2002, http://socialfunds.com/news/Article.cgi/Article815.html;
87. U.S. GOV'T ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE: SEC SHOULD EXPLORE WAYS TO IMPROVE TRACKING AND TRANSPARENCY OF INFORMATION (2004) (questioning SEC's obligation in improving its enforcement of environmental disclosure), available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04808.pdf.
88. SUSAN B. GOODMAN ET AL., THE ENVIRONMENTAL FIDUCIARY: THE CASE FOR INCORPORATING ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INTO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT POLICIES (2002) (examining fiduciary responsibility of environmental disclosures).
89. U.S. GOV'T ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, supra note 65;
90. LeBoeuf Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP, SEC Enforcement Action Against Ashland Inc. Has Implications on Environmental Reporting Requirements, Dec. 22, 2006, at 1 available at http://www.llgm.com/files/Publication/ 5e9fad95-e9b5-4ff2-8837-01955e2a88e8/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/ 4269b3af-6dfc-4a2c-a203-0d790f3e3a17/5089.pdf.
91. David J. van Hoogstraten & James W. Rubin, U.S. Companies Are Feeling the Heat on Climate Change, INDUS. W., Oct. 4, 2006, at 1, available at http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=12765.
92. See J. Kevin Healy & Jeffrey M. Tapick, Climate Change: It's Not Just a Policy Issue for Corporate Counsel-It's a Legal Problem, 29 COLUM. J. ENVTL. L. 89, 105-14 (2004) (providing a discussion of these risks and responses);
93. see also David Monsma Se Timothy Olson, Muddling Through Counterfactual Materiality and Divergent Disclosure: The Necessary Search for a Duty to Disclose Material Non-Financial Information, 26 STAN. ENVTL. L.J. 137, 185-90 (2007) (arguing that climate change risks must be disclosed and providing a thoughtful discussion of best practices for corporate officers and directors to ensure that their businesses are responding appropriately to these risks).
94. Philip Johansson, SEC Asked to Enforce its Environmental Disclosure Rules, SOCIALFUNDS, Feb. 1, 2001, available at http://socialfunds.com/news/Article.cgi/Article487.html.
95. Id.
96. William Baue, Senate Calls on the SEC to Enforce Environmental Disclosure Rules, SOCIALFUNDS, July 16, 2004, at 1, available at http://www.socialfunds.com/news/Article. cgi/Article1467.html.
97. Id.
98. SEC Enforcement Action Against Ashland Inc. Has Implications on Environmental Reporting Requirements, supra note 67, at 3.
99. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50 (examining response information to 2006 CDP survey).
100. SUSTAINABIUTY, THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF LIABILITY: A DIRECTOR'S GUIDE TO TRENDS IN CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIABILITY 19 (2004) available at http://www.eldis.org/static/DOC16882.htm.
101. Financial Reporting Value Chain Must Restore Trust to Meet Challenges Of Post-Enron Environment, Says Deloitte & Touche CEO Copeland, Institutional Shareholder (date unavailable) available at http://www.institutionalshareowner.com/news/release.cgi?sfArticleId=1672.
102. Id.
103. MICHELLE CHAN-FLSHEL, FOURTH SURVEY OF CLIMATE CHANGE DISCLOSURE ON SEC FILINGS OF AUTOMOBILE, INSURANCE, OIL & GAS, PETROCHEMICAL, AND UTILITIES COMPANIES (2005).
104. See infra Exhibit 5: Insurer Response Rates to Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Survey: 2006
105. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT, supra note 50, at 1.
106. IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, supra note 5, at 17.
107. Martin Whittaker, RESEARCH BRIEF: CLIMATE CHANGE AND INVESTMENT RISK (2001) (identifying climate change risk in investments).
108. ROSE FOUNDATION FOR COMMUNITIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT, THE CASE FOR INCORPORATING ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INTO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT POLICIES (2002) (examining fiduciary duty for investments that could be impacted by climate change risk) [hereinafter ROSE REPORT] available at http://www.rosefdn.org/ images/EFreport.pdf.
109. See J. Kevin Healy & Jeffrey M. Tapick, supra note 69, at 102-07;
110. Jeffrey A. Smith & Matthew Morreale, The Fiduciary Duties of Officers and Directors, in GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND U.S. LAW 497, 497-529 (Michael B. Gerrard ed. 2007) (providing a more comprehensive discussion of fiduciary responsibilities in the context of climate change)..
111. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48, at 1.
112. ROSE REPORT, supra note 84 (examining fiduciary duty for investments that could be impacted by climate change risk).
113. WHITTAKER, supra note 83, (identifying climate change risk in investments);
114. see also Audrey Schulman, Insured Destruction: Global Climate Change Threatens the Insurance Industry, E: THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE, July/Aug 2002, at 1, available at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_4_13/ai_90191337.
115. 29 U.S.C. § 1104 (2007).
116. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48, at 11.
117. Id. at 6.
118. Id. at 53;
119. ROSE REPORT, supra note 84 (examining fiduciary duty for investments that could be impacted by climate change risk).
120. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48, at ii.
121. Bayon, supra note 47, at 31.
122. Kim Chipman, The Heat is on: Rita and Katrina Left Even Wall Street Worried About Global Warming. Now the Pressure is on George W. Bush to Deal with Climate Change, CALGARY BUS., Oct. 9, 2005, at 3.
123. Bennett & Wells, supra note 47, at 2;
124. William Baue, Global Warming Shareowner Resolution Filed at "Filthy Five" Electric Companies, SOCIALFUNDS, Jan. 17, 2003, at 1 available at http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article. cgi/1008.html.
125. Baue, supra note 95, at 1.
126. INVESTOR RESP. RES. CTR. & INTERFAITH CTR. ON CORP. RESP., supra note 47 (outlining climate change shareholder resolutions).
127. George Lobsenz, TXU "Earthquake" to Shake Climate Change Debate, Power Supply Choices, ENERGY DAILY, Feb. 27, 2007, at 1.
128. Michael Dworkin, Shanna Vale, & Ellen Crivella, Letter to the Editor, Coal-Fired Power Plants: Imprudent Investments?, 315 SCIENCE 1791, 1791 (2007).
129. See Albert C. Lin, Beyond Tort: Compensating Victims of Environmental Toxic Injury, 78 S. CAL. L. REV. 1439, 1444-53 (2005). Lin argues that the tort system is ill-equipped to accomplish its basic goals in the context of environmental harms and proposes an alternative administrative compensation system to address these harms. Lin points to the often-latent nature of environmental harms, as well as to difficulties in establishing causation - including the difference between the meaning of "causation" in science and in law - as evidence that the tort system does not meet its objectives.
130. Id. at 1444-52.
131. David A. Grossman, Warming Up to a Not-So-Radical Idea: Tort-Based Climate Change Litigation, 28 COLUM. J. ENVTL. L. 1, 5 (2003).
132. Cf. Albert C Lin, supra note 100, at 1452-53 (proposing alternative compensation mechanisms for environmental harms);
133. see also Farber, supra note 28 (discussing administrative compensation systems to handle climate change-related harms).
134. But see Merrill, supra note 42 (outlining arguments in favor of and against viewing climate change as a public nuisance and expressing skepticism that public nuisance lawsuits addressing climate change impacts will prevail in court).
135. See id.;
136. Bradford C Mank, Civil Remedies, in GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND U.S. LAW 183, 184-99 (standing), 200-06 (causation), 206-08 (various other defenses) (Michael B. Gerrard ed. 2007).
137. Simone Bastianoni, Federico M. Pulselli & Enzo Tiezzi, The Problem of Assigning Responsibility for Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 49 ECOLOGICAL ECON. 253 (2004) (outining the challenges associated with assigning responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions).
138. See also Allen, supra note 36, at 891-92.
139. Tom Walsh, Climate Change: Business Risks and Solutions, RISK ALERT (Marsh Inc., New York, N.Y.) Apr. 2006, at 12, available at http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/ Marsh%20%20Climate%20Change%20Risk%20Alert%20(April%202006).pdf.
140. Rohleder & Button, supra note 42, at 59.
141. Jerry D. Mahlman, Uncertainties in Projections of Human-Caused Climate Warming, 278 SCIENCE 1416, 1416 (1997).
142. Edward J. Brook, Tiny Bubbles Tell All, 310 SCIENCE 1285, 1285 (2005).
143. Id. at 1285;
144. Virginia H. Dale, et al., Climate Change and Forest Disturbance, 51 BIOSCIENCE 723, 724 (2001) (outlining anthropogenic sources of GHG emissions).
145. THOMAS E. GRAEDEL & BRADEN R. ALLENBY, INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY 318 (2d ed. 2003).
146. SONIA SHAH, CRUDE: THE STORY OF OIL 111 (2004).
147. IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, supra note 5 (examining anthropogenic contributions to climate change).
148. Brook, supranote 109, at 1285;
149. Mahlman, supra note 108, at 1416-17.
150. IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, supra note 5, at 3.
151. Id. at 2.
152. Brook, supra note 109, at 1285.
153. Richard B. Alley et al., Review: Abrupt Climate Change, 299 SCIENCE 2005, 2009 (2003).
154. See THE CTR. FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENV'T, supra note 9, at 65-86;
155. Andrew Dampf, Ski Industry Facing Meltdown?, CBS NEWS, Dec. 3, 2003, available at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/03/ tech/main586554.shtml?source=search_story;
156. Mark Landler, Global Warming Poses Threat to Ski Resorts in the Alps, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 16, 2006, at A3, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/world/europe/16austria.html.
157. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50, at 19.
158. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48, at 10.
159. Rebecca Mowbray, Business Interruption Insurance Claims Could Account for Half of the Commercial Losses from Katrina, but Many Owners Are Still Struggling to Get Payments WORLD, INTERRUPTED, THE TIMES-PICAYUNE, Sept. 17, 2006, at 1, available at http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf?/base/money-1/1158480493165140. xml&coll=1.
160. Watchman & Rock, supra note 19.
161. During the 2003 blackout in the northeast U.S. there were sixty-one more fires than normal.
162. See generally JOSEPH ETO ET AL., SCOPING STUDY ON TRENDS IN THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF ELECTRICITY RELIABILITY TO THE U.S. ECONOMY (2001) (oudining economic value trends in the reliability of electricity in the U.S.).
163. Michael Bradford, Blackout Shuts Down Cities, BUS. INS., Aug. 18, 2003, at 1.
164. MUNICH REINS. GROUP, FAILURE OF PUBLIC UTILITIES: RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE 7 (2003), available at http://www.munichre.com/ publications/302-03810_en.pdf.
165. Meg Fletcher, Industry Bullish on Asia as Market Barriers Lower, BUS. INS., Aug. 18, 2003, at 9.
166. MUNICH REINS., supra note 127, at 15.
167. MILLS, ROTH, & LECOMTE, supra note 8, at 19.
168. Reducing Electrical Risk, RISK MGMT. MAG., Aug. 2003, at 10.
169. Jared Wade, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, RISK MGMT. MAG., May 2004, at 12.
170. Associated Press, Entergy New Orleans files for bankruptcy protection, USA TODAY, Sept. 23, 2005, available at http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2005-09-23-entergy_x.htm.
171. MUNICH REINS. GROUP & AMER. REINS. COMP., HURRICANES: MORE INTENSE, MORE FREQUENT, MORE EXPENSIVE 29 (2006), available at http://www.munichre.com/ publications/302-04891_en.pdf?rdm=20000.
172. Robert Hartwig, Senior Vice President Se Chief Economist, Insurance Information Institute, Presentation at the Insurance Information Institute: Hurricane Season of 2005: Impacts on US P/C Insurance Markets in 2006 and Beyond (Mar. 2006), available at http://server.iii.org/yy_obj_data/binary/ 744130_1_0/katrina.pdf.
173. Bhushan Bahree & Russell Gold, Oil Prices Rise as Gulf Storm Looms, WALL ST. J., Sept. 20, 2005, at 1.
174. What's News: Business and Finance, WALL ST. J., Sept. 12, 2005, at A1.
175. See THE CTR. FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENV'T, supra note 9.
176. One case study projects a four-fold increase in the suitable range for Lyme disease in North America by the year 2080. Id.
177. For the original research, see John S. Brownstein et al., Effect of climate change on Lyme disease risk in North America, 2 ECOHEALTH 38, 38-46 (2005).
178. Paul Epstein, Climate and Health, 285 SCIENCE 289, 347-48 (1999).
179. See CTR. FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENVT., supra note 9 (discussing the factors enumerated in this list);
180. see also Ronald C Kessler et al., Mental Illness and Suicidality after Hurricane Katrina, 84 BULL. OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORG., Dec. 2006, 930, at 933;
181. Associated Press, Mental Health Crisis Strains New Orleans, Nov. 8, 2006.
182. REDEFINING PROGRESS, CLIMATE CHANGE IN CALIFORNIA: HEALTH, ECONOMIC AND EQUITY IMPACTS 19-21 (2006).
183. IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, supra note 4 (outlining public health impacts from climate change).
184. According to The Center of Health and the Global Environment, hospital admissions for heart and lung ailments increased significantiy at the height of the wildfire season, most notably in Ravalli County. Admissions for respiratory disease increased 90% and admissions for heart problems increased by 57%. MILLS, ROTH, & LECOMTE, supra note 8, at 28.
185. Michelle L. Bell et al., Climate Change, Ambient Ozone and Health in 50 US Cities, CLIMATIC CHANGE, at 3.4 (2006).
186. The issue is reviewed in THE CTR. FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENV'T, supra note 9, at 29.
187. 2-enriched environments, 88 ANNALS OF ALLERGY, ASTHMA AND IMMUNOLOGY 279, at 279-82 (2002),
188. 2) on Public Health: Pollen Production of Common Ragweed as a Test Case, 8 WORLD RESOURCE REV. 449-57 (2000).
189. THE CTR. FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENV'T, supra note 9, at 100.
190. Id. at 29.
191. Whittaker, supra note 83, at 1 (identifying climate change risk in investments).
192. Walsh, supra note 106, at 23.
193. Most insurance glossaries, such as those offered by trade organizations, are quite cursory. The Wisconsin Insurance Commission offers a guide to liability insurance terminology and contract types. See Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, State of Wisconsin, Consumer's Guide to Commercial Liability Insurance 8 (2006), available at http://oci.wi.gov/ pub_list/pi-045.htm.
194. Id. at 4.
195. See Melody A. Hamel, The 1970 Pollution Exclusion in Comprehensive General Liability Policies: Reasons for Interpretations in Favor of Coverage in 1996 and Beyond, 34 DUQ, L. REV. 1083, 1086-88 (1996).
196. See also Editorial, Rising Temperatures May Boost Liabilities, BUS. INS., Feb. 5, 2007, at 8.
197. RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF TORTS §§3 & 6 (proposed).
198. See The Insurance Industry's Contribution to the Legal Services Industry, supra note 43.
199. It is unclear to what extent policy language that excludes pollution-related harms from CGL coverage will encompass greenhouse gas emissions. The United States Supreme Court recendy held, in Mass. v. EPA, 549 U. S.__ (2007),
200. that greenhouse gases are "air pollutants" within the meaning of the Clean Air Act's definition of that term. Id., slip op. at 25-30;
201. see 42 U. S.C. §7521 (a)(1). Aldiough policy language does not necessarily track the Clean Air Act's definition of pollutants, it is possible that in some cases this decision may bolster insurance companies' contentions diat CGL coverage does not cover damages from releases of greenhouse gases. Even if this is so, such damages may still be covered by environmental liability coverage, as discussed below in Section III.B.2, or by older CGL policies.
202. RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF TORTS, supra note 154.
203. See Hamel, supra note 153, at 1086-88. The article provides a good overview of the history of pollution exclusions from CGL coverage and advances an argument that courts should construe the standard pollution exclusion in effect from approximately 1970 to 1986 narrowly. In general, older CGL policies with weaker or no pollution exclusions are more likely to cover risks from environmental contamination, while more recent CGL policies' exclusion of such coverage mean that for more recent occurrences of contamination, environmental liability policies will generally be the focus of insurance coverage for such contamination.
204. Gary Guzy, Insurance and Climate Change, in GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND U.S. LAW 541, 554-55 (Michael B. Gerrard ed. 2007)
205. Guzy notes that to the extent state and federal statutory definitions of "pollution" include carbon dioxide, insureds may have stronger coverage claims. Id
206. The recent United States Supreme Court decision in Mass. v. EPA, 549 U. S.____(2007), holding that greenhouse gases are "air pollutants" within the meaning of the Clean Air Act's definition of that term,
207. id., slip op. at 25-30, may thus lend weight to policyholders' arguments that carbon dioxide releases are covered by environmental liability policies.
208. See John A. Hannah, The U.S. Environmental Liability Insurance Market-Reaching New Frontiers (May 2000), available at http://www.irmi.com/Expert/Articles/2000/Hannah05.aspx (discussing typical risks covered Dy various types of environmental insurance policies, including [a]ll sudden and gradual pollution releases (including legacy liabilities)");
209. Guzy, supra note 159, at 555.
210. Guzy notes that insurers are likely to assert that in the absence of proof of causation-particularly, tying a particular insured's activities to a particular, measurable harm-coverage will not apply. Id.
211. Nonetiieless, an insurer that denies a defense based on this position will risk a bad-faith coverage lawsuit. In such cases, the scope of the insurer's duty may not be conclusively determined until after discovery, since the causation issues raised in the coverage disputes may overlap considerably with the underlying legal issues relating to the insured's liability. Thus, contesting coverage in such cases will often be a risky strategy for insurers.
212. See, e.g., Anna Maria Cruz, Laura J. Steinberg & Ronaldo Luna, Identifying HurricaneInduced Hazardous Material Release Scenarios in a Petroleum Refinery, NAT. HAZARDS REV., Nov. 2001, at 203-10.
213. National Oceanic Sc Atmospheric Admin., Hazmat Challenges from Hurricanes Bring Strong NOAA Response (Oct. 6, 2005), available at http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/ s2517.htm.
214. Turner v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 472 F.Supp.2d 830, 846 (E.D. La. 2007).
215. Class Action Complaint, Turner v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., No. 05-2406, 2005 WL 5249245 (E.D. La. Sept. 9, 2005).
216. See Turner v. Murphy Oil USA, supra note 163, at 837.
217. Id. at 838.
218. Id. at 838-39.
219. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS: PUBLIC NUISANCE §821B (1979).
220. See also Mank, supra note 104, at 213-14 (giving a good, short summary of public nuisance law's application to climate change).
221. Eric Tucker, R.I. Judge Orders Cleanup by Former Lead Paint Manufacturers, INS. J., Feb.28, 2007, available at http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2007/02/28/77269.htm? print=1;
222. R.I. ex rel. Lynch, v. Lead Indus.Ass'n, Inc., CA. No. PC 99-5226 (R.I. Super. Ct. 2007).
223. R.I. exrel Lynch, supra note 169, at 172-80.
224. Grossman, supra note 101, at 52.
225. Compare Complaint in Conn. v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 406 F. Supp. 2d 265 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (No. 04 Civ. 5669(LAP)) (seeking injunctive relief including changes in business practices) with Complaint in Cal. ex rel. Lockyer v. Gen. Motors Corp., No. C06-05755-MJJ (N.D. Cal., Sept, 20, 2006) (seekingdamages).
226. See Complaint in Cal ex rel. Lockyer v. Gen. Motors Corp., at 1-3, 9-14 (describing alleged costs of adaptation and related damages to California from climate change), available at http://ag.ca.gov/ newsalerts/cms06/06-082_0a.pdf.
227. Grossman, supra note 101, at 59.
228. Conn. v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 406 F.Supp.2d at 268.
229. Id. at 267-69;
230. see also JUSTIN R. PIDOT, GEORGETOWN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & POLICY INSTITUTE, GEORGETOWN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER, GLOBAL WARMING IN THE COURTS: AN OVERVIEW OF CURRENT LITIGATION AND COMMON LEGAL ISSUES, 15-16 (2006), available at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi/current_research/documents/GWL_Report.pdf (discussing Conn. v. Am. Elec. Power Co.).
231. Complaint at 2, Conn. v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 406 F. Supp. 2d 265 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (No. 04 Civ. 5669(LAP)).
232. Conn. v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 406 F.Supp.2d at 270-74.
233. Watchman & Rock, supra note 19, at 11.
234. Complaint in People ex rel. Lockyer v. Gen. Motors Corp., No. C06-05755-MJJ (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 20 2006)
235. Id. at 1-3, 9-14.
236. Peter A. Stott, D.A. Stone & M.R. Allen, Human Contribution to the European Heatwave of 2003, 432 NATURE 610, 612 (2004).
237. Myles R. Allen Sc Richard Lord, The blame game - Who will pay for the damaging consequences of climate change?, 432 NATURE 551, 551 (2004).
238. PIDOT, supra note 176, at 4.
239. Cornejo, supra note 32, at 26.
240. Id.
241. Cruz, Steinberg & Luna, supra note 161, at 204.
242. Id.
243. CAL. DEP'T. OF WATER RES., PROGRESS ON INCORPORATING CLIMATE CHANGE INTO MANAGEMENT OF CALIFORNIA'S WATER RESOURCES IV (2006), available at http://baydeltaoffice.water. ca.gov/climatechange/cfm.
244. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-75.
245. Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§1251.
246. Resource Conservation Recovery Act, 42 U.S.CA. § 6972 (allowing a citizens' suit against a party "who has contributed or who is contributing to the past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid or hazardous waste which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment").
247. 42 U.S.C. §9607(a)(4) (C);
248. U.S.C. §9611(b) (1).
249. See, e.g., Turner v. Murphy Oil USA, 472 F. Supp. 2d at 837 (certifying class action causes of action under Louisiana state statutes).
250. See Smith Sc Morreale, supra note 84, 513-14.
251. Id.;
252. Smith & Morreale, supra note 62, at 458-68.
253. See Smith Se Morreale, supra note 84, at 510-12. While the "business judgment rule" generally protects directors from liability for the results of any reasonably informed decision-making, failure to consider reasonably available, material information may be considered grossly negligent or even reckless and may open the door to liability.
254. Id. at 498-502.
255. See also Healy & Tapick, supra note 69, at 102-06 for a discussion of the business judgment rule's application to directors' behavior in the context of climate change.
256. See Smith & Morreale, supra note 84, at 516-29 for a provocative discussion of the ways in which climate change-related risk may affect the responsibilities of officers and directors. The audiors conclude that "a prudent board of directors cannot remain significandy ignorant of, should as best practice actively consider, and may soon be obliged to consider, five significant bodies of information," including emergent climate change science, the relevance of the science to their business, the position of stakeholders on climate change, management responses to climate change-related opportunities, risks, and shareholder initiatives, and the consequences of all this in the company s capital markets.
257. Id. at 528.
258. Id. at 504-05.
259. Sally Roberts, Companies Not Disclosing Climate Liabilities: Survey, BUS. INS., Feb. 5, 2007, at 21.
260. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50, at 35.
261. Walsh, supra note 106, at 23.
262. Mank, supranote 104, at 214-15 (2006).
263. Grossman, supra note 101, at 39-46
264. U.S. Department of Energy, Appliances and Commercial Equipment Standards, http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/ (last visited Apr. 10, 2007).
265. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, June 12, 1992, 1771 U.N.T.S. 107, available at http://unfccc.int/essential_background/ kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items/2613.php.
266. Walsh, supra note 106, at 7.
267. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50, at 17.
268. Insurance Information Institute, Facts and Statistics: Auto Insurance, http://www.iii.org/media/facts/statsbyissue/auto/ (last visited Feb. 22, 2007).
269. IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, supra note 5.
270. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2006, supra note 45, at 6.
271. Grossman, supra note 101, at 32-33.
272. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2006, supra note 45, at 26.
273. Grossman, supra note 101, at 29.
274. Obey, supra note 31, at 3.
275. Press Release, Ceres, 2006 Proxy Season Produces Positive Results on Climate Change (July 14, 2006) available at http://www.ceres.org/news/ news_item.php?nid=209
276. See Michael Givel & Stanton A. Glantz, The 'Global Settlement' With The Tobacco Industry: 6 Years Later, 94 AMER. J. OF PUB. HEALTH 218 (2004) (oudining tobacco industry settlement).
277. Obey, supra note 31, at 4.
278. Id. at 2.
279. IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, supranote 5, at 12-15.
280. Grossman, supra note 101, at 32.
281. Allen, supra note 36, at 892.
282. Grossman, supra note 101, at 32-33.
283. A.V. Krebs, California Wine Industry Threatened by Global Warming AGRIBUSINESS (2004).
284. Gabriel Metcalf, The Ecological Footprint of Energy, SPUR NEWSLETTER, Aug. 2003, at 6, available at http://www.spur.org/ documents/030801_article_03.shtm.
285. Gregory V. Jones et al., Climate Change and Global Wine Quality, 73 CLIMATIC CHANGE 319 (2005);
286. Gregory V. Jones, Climate Change in the Western United States Grape Growing Regions, 689 ACTA HORTICULTURAE 41 (2005) (discussing the impact of climate change on grape cultivation in Washington, Oregon, and California) ;
287. M.A. White et al., Extreme Heat Reduces and Shifts United States Premium Wine Production in the 21st Century. 103 PROC. OF THE NAT'L ACAD. OF SCI. 11217 (2006) (discussing how climate change modeling indicates eighty-one percent of productive wine-growing regions in the United States will be unsuited to that purpose by the end of the twenty-first century).
288. White et al., supra note 226, at 11217.
289. Epstein & Mills, supra note 9, 28-29, 36.
290. Wil Burns, remarksat the Stanford Law School Spring 2007 Symposium: Climate Change Liability and the Allocation of Risk (Feb. 24, 2007), notes available at http://sjil.stanford.edu/Schedule_files/WilBurns.doc.
291. Vellinga, et al., supra note 3 (oudining physical climate change impacts and their subsequent impacts on the insurance industry).
292. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50 (oudining industries at risk from climate change impacts).
293. Jeremy S. Fried, Margaret S. Torn & Evan Mills, The Impact of Climate Change on Wildfire Severity: A Regional Forecast for Northern California, 64 CLIMATIC CHANGE 169-91 (2004);
294. Margaret S. Torn & Jeremy S. Fried, Predicting the impact of climate change on wildfire, 21 CLIMATIC CHANGE 257-74 (2004).
295. Joel B. Smith, Richard Richels & Barbara Miller, Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for the Western United States, in CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON THE UNITED STATES: THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND CHANGE 220-40 (2001), available at http://www.gcrio.org/NationalAssessment/8WE.pdf.
296. Epstein & Mills, supra note 9, at 65-69.
297. Whittaker, supra note 83 (outlining climate change investment risks).
298. Epstein & Mills, eds., supra note 9, at 77-79.
299. CAL. DEPT. WATER RES., supra note 189, at 339.
300. Vellinga, et al., supra note 3 (oudining climate change impacts on the insurance industry).
301. Legal Services Industry, supra note 43, and text accompanying the note.
302. Elements in this section are adapted from Evan Mills, Synergisms Between Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: An Insurance Perspective, in MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR GLOBAL CHANGE: SPECIAL ISSUE ON CHALLENGES IN INTEGRATION MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE (forthcoming Aug. 2007).
303. Farber, supra note 28;
304. Complaint at 1-3, 9-14, California ex. rel. Lockyer v. Gen. Motors Corp.No. C06-05755-MJJ (N.D. Cal. filed September 20, 2006).
305. Denis Albrecht, Electric Power Research Institute, Presentation: Climate Impact on Water Availability for Electricity Generation (April 11, 2006) (presentation slides associated with the Electric Power Research Institute).
306. MUNICH REINS. GROUP, supra note 127, at 13.
307. Frederick E. Nelson, Oleg A. Anisimov & Nikolay I. Shiklomanov, Subsidence Risk from Thawing Permafrost, 410 NATURE 889 (2001).
308. Eugene L. Lecomte with Anna W. Pang & James W. Russell, Ice Storm '98, 1-2 (Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction Research Paper Series - No. 1, 1998) available at http://www.iclr.org/pdf/icestorm98_english.pdf.
309. MUNICH REINS. GROUP, supra note 127, at 5.
310. Id. at 14.
311. Id. at 31.
312. United Nations Environment Programme, Impacts of Summer 2003 Heat Wave in Europe, 2 ENV'T ALERT BULL. 3 (2004), available at http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/ download/ew_heat_wave.en.pdf.
313. See Press Release, Department of Energy, Department of Energy Releases Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Strategic Plan (Jan. 10, 2007), available at http://www.gnep. energy.gov/gnepPRs/ gnepPR011007.html.
314. Steven Pacala & Robert Socolow, Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies, 305 SCIENCE 968, 969 (2004).
315. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2011 23 (2006), as amended by Price-Anderson Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2210 (2006). For more information,
316. see U.S. GOV'T ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, NUCLEAR REGULATION: NRC'S LIABILITY INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS OWNED BY LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES (2004), available at http://www.gao.gov/ new.items/d04654.pdf.
317. MUNICH REINS. GROUP, TOPICSGEO: ANNUAL REVIEW: NATURAL CATASTROPHES 2003, 23 (2004), available at http://www.munichre.com/publications/302-03971_en. pdf?rdm=6512.
318. Amelia Gentleman, France Faces Nuclear Power Crises, GUARDIAN, Aug. 13, 2003, available aihttp://www.guardian.co.uk/ international/story/0,3604,1017262,00.html.
319. 2).
320. Elizabedi J. Wilson & Mark A. de Figueiredo, Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration: An Analysis of Subsurface Property Law, 36 ENVTL. L. REP. 10114 (2006);
321. Elizabedi T. Wilson, Timodiy L. Johnson, & David W. Keith, Regulating the Ultimate Sink: Managing the Risks of Geologic CO2 Storage, 37 ENVTL. SCI. & TECH. 3476 (2004).
322. George W. Kling et al., The 1986 Lake Nyos Gas Disaster in Cameroon, West Africa. 236 SCIENCE 169 (1987).
323. Obey, supra note 31.
324. Russell Moy, Letter to the Editor, Liability and the Hydrogen Economy, 301 SCIENCE 47 (2003).
325. UNITED KINGDOM CLIMATE IMPACTS PROGRAM, BUILDING KNOWLEDGE FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE: THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT (2003).
326. Evan Mills, The Insurance and Risk Management Industries: New Players in the Delivery of EnerggEfficient Products and Services, 31 ENERGY POL'Y 1257 (2003).
327. See EVAN MILLS & IVO KNOEPFEL, ENERGY-EFFICIENCY OPTIONS FOR INSURANCE LOSS-PREVENTION, at 9, 12 (1997), available at http://eetd.lbl.gov/emills/PUBS/no-regrets.html.
328. MARC ROSS & TOM WENZEL, AN ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC DEATHS BY VEHICLE TYPE AND MODEL, U.S. Dep't of Energy, LBNL Report No 49675 (2002), available at http://eande.lbl.gov/EA/teepa/pdf/ LBNL-49675.pdf.
329. See Letter from Kadierine A. Siggerud, Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office, Unaerinflated Tires in the United States (Feb. 9, 2007), available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07246r.pdf.
330. Exhibit 9: Carbon Offset and Trading Risks.
331. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) provides a secretariat for the world's largest collaboration of institutional investors regarding the business implications of climate change. CDP represents an efficient process whereby many institutional investors collectively sign a single global request for disclosure of information on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. More than 1,000 large corporations report on their emissions dirough this web site. According to http://www.cdproject.net/, on February 1, 2007 this request was sent to over 2,400 companies.
332. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50 (outlining poor assessment of climate change-related risk by the majority of financial companies that filed with the CDP).
333. ROSE REPORT, supra note 84 (examining fiduciary duty for investments that could be impacted by climate change risk).
334. Id.
335. Glen Dowell, Stuart Hart, & Bernard Yeung, Do Corporate Global Environmental Standards Create or Destroy Market Value?, 46 MGMT. SCI. 1059 (2000) (finding higher market value associated with companies diat adopt a single strict global environmental standard while developing countries with less restrictive environmental regulation may attract poorer quality and less competitive companies).
336. ROSE REPORT, supra note 84 (examining fiduciary duty for investments that could be impacted by climate change risk)
337. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48;
338. MICHAEL TOTTEN, GETTING IT RIGHT: EMERGING MARKETS FOR STORING CARBON IN FORESTS (1999) (outlining carbon storage markets), available at http://pdf.wri.org/ftcarbonbro.pdf.
339. Interview with Ivo Menzinger, Head of Sustainability & Emerging Market Risk, Swiss Reinurance, in Zurich, Switz. (Nov. 17, 2006);
340. and Interview with Mark Way, Head of Sustainability Issues Management and Reporting, Swiss Reinsurance, in Zurich, Switz. (Jan. 8, 2007).
341. Id.
342. WORLD RESOURCES INST., THE BUSINESS CASE FOR CORPORATE GREENHOUSE-GAS MANAGEMENT (2004) (examining business opportunities for GHG management programs).
343. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48, at 5.
344. See du Vair, supra note 31, at 14.
345. Bennett & Wells, supra note 47, at 5.
346. Id.
347. Id.
348. CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT 2003, supra note 50, at 1.
349. CERES SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE PROJECT, supra note 48 (outlining climate change industry risks);
350. WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE, supra note 275 (examining business opportunities for GHG management programs).
351. TOTTEN, supra note 272, at 11.
352. Bennett & Wells, supra note 47, at 6.
353. MILLS, ROTH & LECOMTE, supra note 8, at 2.
354. Walsh, suprattote 106, at 16-18.
355. See van Hoogstraten & Rubin, supra note 68, at 1.
356. Allen, supra note 36, at 892.
357. CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT LIMITED, supra note 16, at 9.
358. Exhibit 10: Types of Opportunities for Insurers and Selected Examples. Update of EVAN MILLS & EUGENE LECOMTE, FROM RISK TO OPPORTUNITY: HOW INSURERS CAN PROACTIVELY AND PROFITABLY MANAGE CLIMATE CHANGE (Ceres, 2006) available at http://insurance.lbl.gov/Insurance-opportunities.html.
359. Items in the following list are from MILLS & LECOMTE, supra note 1.
360. Evan Mills, The Insurance and Risk Management Industries: New Players in the Delivery of Energy-Efficient Products and Services, 31 ENERGY POL'Y 1257-72.
361. Studies suggest that pay-as-you-drive insurance reduces miles driven by 10% to 15%, potentially resulting in significant climate change and energy security co-benefits.
362. Thomas Arnoldt, Drilling for Geothermal Energy in Unterhaching - Claims-Free Productivity Risk Insurance, in MUNICH RE GROUP, PERSPECTIVES: TODAY'S IDEAS FOR TOMORROW'S WORLD 29 (Andreas Armus et al., 2004).
363. Press Release, Aon, Aon Establishes New Agri-Fuels Group to Manage Renewable Fuels Industry Risks (Jan. 31, 2007), available at http://www.aon.com/about/news/press_release/pr_00697117_Agri-Fuels_Man.
364. Interview with Richard L. Shanks, National Director, Aon Agribusiness and Foods System Group, in Kansas City, Kansas (Feb. 6, 2007).
365. Claudia Brovik, New Insurance Benefit for RESNET Members, HOME ENERGY MAGAZINE, July/August 2006, at 5.
366. AMER. INS. ASS'N, PROPERTY-CASUALTY INSURANCE AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE: A RISK ASSESSMENT (1999) (examining risk assessment considerations in the context of P&C insurance).
367. AMER. INS. ASS'N, POTENTIAL AREAS OF FOCUS FOR THE OECD WITH REGARD TO GLOBAL CATASTROPHE MITIGATION (2000).
368. MILLS, ROTH & LECOMTE, supra note 8, at 16.
369. Evan Mills, Climate Change, Buildings, and the Insurance Sector: Technological Synergisms Between Adaptation and Mitigation, 31 BUILDING RES. AND INFO. 257-77 (2002), available at http://eetd.lbl.gov/EMills/PUBS/Mitigation_Adaptation.html.
370. Charles A. Goldman, Galen L. Barbose, & Joseph H. Eto, California Customer Load Reductions during the Electricity Crisis: Did They Help to Keep the Lights On?, 2 J. INDUSTRY, COMPETITION & TRADE, June 2002, at 113.
371. Id.
372. ALLIANZ & WORLD WILDLIFE FEDERATION, CLIMATE CHANGE & THE FINANCIAL SECTOR, AN AGENDA FOR ACTION 25-30 (2005), available at http://www.allianz.com/images- 2006-12-13/pdf/saobj_847265_allianz_wwf_climate_change_study_2005.pdf.