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Electric Vehicles are clearly better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles. For example, a gas-powered car that gets 30 miles per gallons and drives 10,000 miles a year will emit more than 3 tons of CO2 annually. EVs are somewhat more expensive to purchase - which has kept many people from purchasing them. But what many people do not realize is that they are generally less expensive over their lifetime. First and foremost is the cost of gasoline purchase vs. charging. In the above example, the owner of the gasoline-powered car will spend over $1,000 per year in gas if gas were to stay at an average of $3.25/gallon. The cost of charging will vary with the cost of electricity and the method of charging, but with a typical home charger that provides 38 miles of range per hour, even in an area with high electricity costs such as Cape Cod, the equivalent cost for an EV will be about $250 per year. Over an 8-year life that's a savings of $6,000.
Moreover, EV's typically cost much less to maintain. For example, there is no need for annual oil changes. There are fewer parts to maintain. And because of regenerative breaking - which breaks the car and generates power for the battery when the foot is removed from the accelerator - the brakes last significantly longer. The payback period will vary based on a variety of factors, including the range of the vehicle (how often it needs to be recharged) and the cost of charging (electricity costs vary widely across the country and different public EV charging stations add different surcharges), but the bottom line is that EVs are less expensive to operate than gas-powered vehicles.
Click here for more information on EVs:
* Range and range anxiety
* Public EV charging stations in and near Chatham
* What are the different types of chargers?
* Charging at home
How is climate change impacting home insurance markets? Brookings (brookings.edu) concludes that climate change is putting upward pressure on insurance premiums through a number of channels as catastrophic weather events are becoming more frequent and more damaging as the climate changes. C&S Insurance (candsins.com) agrees that one of the most direct impacts of climate change on homeowners insurance is the increase in extreme and unpredictable weather patterns. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa.gov) reported a record-breaking 27 or 28 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters across the US in 2023 and 2024 - between 1980 and 2023 the annual average was 8.5 (see graph below). These disasters cause extensive damage to properties (over $180 billion), leading to a surge in insurance claims.
As the insurance industry is realizing, this graph suggests that recent events are not simply unusual weather events based on the past, but signs of a dangerously accelerating climate-change trend heading into the near future. This will have consequences for property owners. As seen in 2024 news coverage of the continuing increase of extreme weather events like the huricanes in Florida, flooding in North Carolina and wildfires in California, insurance companies are hiking premiums, declining claims and withdrawing coverage. Climate change is rapidly accelerating insurance claims and insurance rates, causing a crisis for the insurance industry and concerns for home owners. Although statistics on insurance rate increases in Chatham specifically are not publicly available, in Massachusetts they have been trending upwards for some time due to climate change, as documented in the following.
According to the insurance industy itself (insurify.com), while home insurance rates in Massachusetts are lower than the national average, costs increased at a 582% higher rate than income in the state - the largest gap between insurance rate hikes and wage growth in 2023. Massachusetts saw a slew of flooding throughout the summer of 2023, the second-wettest on record in Boston. Massachusetts faces other challenges, including extreme storms, rising heat, sea level rise and wildfire risk. The state implemented the ResilientMass Plan last year; the plan aims to fortify Massachusetts properties against an increase in severe weather events by updating building codes and looking into buyout programs for high-risk areas.
Climate catastrophes are driving up home insurance rates. As climate change progresses, the frequency and severity of destructive weather events have increased, making more areas high-risk and unprofitable for insurance companies. The First Street Foundation's Climate Abandonment Areas report (firststreet.org/research-library/the-insurance-issue)warns that climate catastrophes are driving insurance crises in California and Florida, with numerous insurers not renewing customers or exiting the states entirely. States with less severe weather might not see insurance premiums skyrocket yet, but "no part of the country is safe from climate disasters."
How will climate change impact homeowners insurance in the future? According to the Motley Fool economic advisory site (fool.com/money/research), by 2040 the cost of property lost to natural catastrophes, like wildfires, floods, and hurricanes, could increase by over 60% in the U.S. as a result of climate change, according to Swiss Re, the world's largest reinsurer. Swiss Re projects that globally, homeowners insurance premiums may increase 5.3% per year through 2040, in large part due to climate change. Climate change may cause wildfire seasons to become longer, with more frequent and fiercer blazes. Category 4 and 5 hurricanes may become more common, and rainfall carried by tropical storms could increase by up to 20%. Increased precipitation across the U.S. may make "100-year floods" more likely. Sea level rise will present flooding challenges along coastlines. The effects of climate change are already on display. The number of natural disasters resulting in at least $1 billion in losses was well above average in 2020 and 2021, according to risk-management company Aon. Those years combined caused $176 billion in insured loss in the U.S., shattering the previous record set in 2004 and 2005. Insurance companies may already be rethinking how they underwrite homes in light of climate change, particularly in local markets vulnerable to those risks. Policyholders are beginning to feel the effects. After record-breaking losses from wildfires over the last five years, insurance companies have increased rates for homeowners in vulnerable areas and even dropped some policyholders they deem to reside in areas too risky to insure. Some homes on the coast are becoming uninsurable in the primary market as companies are taking a fresh look at risks carried from rising sea levels.
Homeowner's insurance premiums are on the rise across the country due to natural disasters. Massachusetts is no exception. One analysis (masslandlords.net) of policyholder data found that home insurance premiums rose 15% in the bay state between May 2022 and May 2023. Climate change is impacting home insurance in four major ways according to the Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org): premiums are skyrocketing, it is getting harder to find insurance, the public sector is taking on more risk and homeowners are taking on more risk.
Notably, a separate flood insurance policy, not standard homeowners insurance, typically covers flooding. Can someone describe the floodplain in Chatham and how it relates to flood insurance, etc.?