The insurance industry is lobbying Congress next week. Make sure Congress hears from you. Major insurers are putting our climate and financial well-being at risk.

It's ironic -- and infuriating -- that the companies charged with insuring our homes and livelihoods against disasters are contributing to the devastating impacts of climate change-related floods, hurricanes and wildfires.

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the leading trade association for the industry, is holding its annual Congressional lobby day on May 21.

Tell your members of Congress to urge the insurance industry to change their practices when they meet with them.

Although the APCIA has supported Congressional efforts to help communities better withstand the impacts of climate change, it has opposed efforts to bring to light the risks of those very impacts some of its members ironically contribute to by insuring fossil fuel projects.^1,2,3,4,5

On top of that, those members also invest their premiums in the fossil fuel industry, which further pollutes our air and harms our climate.⁶

Tell Congress: Don't let the insurance industry obscure the climate risks they're fueling.

By insuring and investing in fossil fuel projects, major insurers are practicing bad business for their customers, investors, and our planet. Global warming is making severe weather events both more frequent and more destructive -- which means a higher chance of property owners' deaths, injuries, property loss, property damage or diminished property values.

But the damage doesn't stop there: Insurance companies hike premiums to pass on the higher costs of claims to their customers, tightening household budgets and freezing more people out of the market entirely.⁷ Additionally, increases in insured losses also increase the risk to investors whose portfolios include stocks in insurance companies.

Let's make sure the industry's voice isn't the only one Congress hears from. Will you sign our petition?

Thank you,

The team at U.S. PIRG Education Fund

1. "APCIA Holds Legislative Action Day; Advocates for Policies to Increase Climate Resiliency," APCIA, May 18, 2023.
2. Chad Hemenway, "Industry Trades Applaud New FIO-NAIC Partnership on Data Collection," Insurance Journal, March 11, 2024.
3. "Trade Association Dues Allocated to Lobbying," Travelers, 2024
4. "Political Activities & Contributions," The Hartford, 2023.
5. "Fifty Years of Climate Failure: 2023 Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels and the Climate Emergency," Insure Our Future, November 2023.
6. "Changing Climate for the Insurance Sector: Research and Insights," Ceres, August 2023.
7. Ken Sweet, "Homeowners face rising insurance rates as climate change makes wildfires, storms more common," The Associated Press, September 20, 2023.

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Main Office: 1543 Wazee St., Suite 460, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 801-0582, Federal Advocacy Office: 600 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, 4th Fl., Washington, DC 20003, (202) 546-9707
Member questions or requests call 1-800-838-6554.