Lawmakers in Hawaiʻi have passed a resolution that sets up insurance companies to lower policyholders' coverage costs by suing fossil fuel producers over the recent spike in natural disasters.
In April, SCR198 SD1 was adopted by the state legislature. The non-binding resolution encourages insurance providers to "reduce insurance costs on local residents by pursuing subrogation claims against polluters who knowingly engaged in misleading and deceptive practices regarding the connection between their products and climate change."
Subrogation claims can enable insurance companies to recoup payouts to policyholders from a third party that has been deemed at fault.
SCR198 SD1, which Newsweek called "a first-of-its-kind resolution," suggests that the dirty energy industry — built up around polluting sources like oil, coal, and gas — has contributed to extreme weather events and related disasters that have wreaked havoc in Hawaiʻi.
As a tragic example, the 2023 Maui wildfires claimed over 100 human lives and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damages. The fires have been attributed to the combination of high winds and drought conditions.
The United States Geological Survey has previously determined that an increase in global temperatures has contributed to higher risks of severe droughts and storms. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has linked the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases — driven largely by dirty energy sources — with those rising temperatures.
The language in the resolution alleges that at least some in the fossil fuel industry purposefully misled the public about these connections. It reads, in part: "... overwhelming evidence demonstrates that certain responsible polluters in the fossil fuel industry have been aware of their contribution to climate change for decades … "
The Center for Climate Integrity applauded the passing of SCR198 SD1, per Newsweek, noting that the resolution can be a "model for communities across the country struggling with growing housing and cost of living crises that are being supercharged by climate disasters."
"Big Oil predicted this outcome decades ago, but opted to bury the science in order to continue making billions of dollars a year," the CCI added. "These companies that profited from lying should be the ones paying for the consequences, not everyday Americans."
Late-April coverage of the resolution's passage by Insurance Business noted that "there is no established precedent for insurers successfully pursuing subrogation claims against oil companies for climate-related damages." But the publication did point to the introduction of a similar bill in California earlier this year.
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No way 👎 While California's SB 222 didn't make it out of committee — with concerns from labor organizations about potential impacts on jobs — and while Hawaiʻi's resolution does not come with the legal force that a law would, the strategy they share may have a future in disaster-vulnerable states around the country.
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