US Financial Sector Dragging Ass On Warming Potential Problems - Reuters

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HOUSTON - "Financial and insurance firms elsewhere have awakened to the dangers posed by global warming, but US companies have shown little interest so far, a British insurance expert said on Wednesday.

Former insurance executive David Crichton said US firms may be holding back because of ties to US energy companies who do not acknowledge that global warming is a problem. The insurance industry really is starting to take action" against global warming and its effects, he said at a conference on global warming at Rice University.

"US insurers have elected not to join in, often because they have close links to the fossil fuel industry," said Crichton, who is now a visiting professor at Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London. Most experts say the Earth is becoming warmer because carbon dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels.

They warn the changing climate could cause many more severe storms, the submersion of coastal land, increased pollution and greater danger of mosquito-borne illnesses. Crichton said more than 200 financial firms and insurers from around the world have signed on to the UN Environmental Program Financial Initiative aimed at promoting sustainable development and ameliorating problems such as global warming. But only one US insurance firm and a handful of US banks signed up, Crichton said."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/29471/story.htm

[phantom power]

1. well, at least we're consistent.