Tag: north carolina

Insurance in the Era of Climate Collapse

Last night we were enjoying the beautiful weather here in Spartanburg, SC at our local community gathering spot / coffee shop / bar / outdoor space and had a conversation with a friend about her ongoing frustrations to get their home renovated after Helene last year due to insurance struggles and delays.

Having lived in the Carolinas for most of my life, I’ve heard countless stories of insurance frustrations, debacles, and failures following a hurricane. That’s only escalating, as we saw here in Western North and South Carolina after Hurricane Helene hit this area a year ago (and the two properties across the street from our home remain uninhabited (by humans… the birds and squirrels, and deer seem to be enjoying!), with trees on their roofs).

Fascinating read here on the insurance industry and climate considerations…

How McKinsey and Climate Change Wrecked Insurance | The New Republic:

Bahan’s insurance nightmare was one of many related to me during a visit to southwestern Florida, where residents have endured three major hurricanes—Ian, Helene, and Milton—in as many years. Each tale turns on its own particular outrages and ironies, but common themes aren’t hard to spot: eye-watering rate hikes, dropped policies, shady adjusters, paltry payouts, and claims denied for dubious reasons. State Farm, for instance, closed 46 percent of 2023 claims after issuing no payment whatsoever, and it was hardly an outlier. Meanwhile, even as they were doing everything possible to limit payouts, insurance companies were socking away massive profits, according to a secret state report that became public just a few weeks before my trip. While Florida’s situation is extreme, it represents an early warning sign in a troubled property insurance system that is, as U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse put it in a 2024 committee hearing, “swirling the drain.”

Lost Connections

Great post from Merianna about relational being and our real need to have connections that will help us imagine our way out of our modern spiritual crisis in the context of Hurricane Helene…

Lost Connection – by Merianna Harrelson:

Without thinking I asked, “Where you all right? How about your house? How about your neighborhood? Do you need anything?” The lost connection actually helped me search for connection with complete strangers. Suddenly, no one was irritated or frustrated waiting in line or waiting for a plug to charge what they needed. Instead we were all thankful to see each other.

A year later as I think about the way we as a community started to congregate in places that had power, I realized that this is what is missing. We have become so used to being connected all the time to news streams, events from around the world, and posts and comments that we have lost connection to the people we pass every day. We have forgotten that these connections are the connections that remind us that we are all God’s beloved children and we have all lived through something that has shaken us to our core.

Launching Carolina Ecology

I’m excited to launch Carolina Ecology this week. This is a project I’ve been working on in my head for a while, and I’m excited to see it come to fruition. 

The idea is to provide a place to bridge the worlds that make up our region’s ecologies: to draw on spiritual traditions, ecological science, and grassroots activism so that each informs and deepens the other. There will be regular essays (already a couple there written by me) as well as a weekly podcast that will hopefully include voices from around North and South Carolina exploring these ideas, possibilities, thoughts, or events.

From the about page:

What You’ll Find Here

Essays & Reflections: Essays highlighting the vastness of ecologies in the Carolinas as well as explorations of theological frameworks and their relevance to Carolina landscapes, from the Coastal Plain’s salt marshes to the Piedmont’s waterways (from myself and others).

Local Conservation News: Updates on land-preservation efforts, watershed restoration projects, and progress (or setbacks) in state and municipal environmental policy.

Indigenous Perspectives: Profiles of initiatives, interviews with tribal leaders, and deep dives into traditional ecological knowledge, especially fire and water stewardship practices in our region.

Faith & Ecology Resources: Sermons, liturgy ideas, and study guides for congregations seeking to integrate environmental ethics into worship, outreach, and education.

Events & Calls to Action: Listings of Carolina-centered conferences, citizen science opportunities (like stream monitoring or butterfly counts), and gatherings where activists, faith communities, and scientists come together.

Here’s the essay I just published there regarding World Oceans Day and Pentecost as well…

Sustaining What Sustains Us – by Sam Harrelson:

It’s World Oceans Day across our planet today. There won’t be many sermons about that here in the Carolinas, I fear. However, I am hopeful that a young person somewhere in our two states will be inspired today to think about our oceans from its amazing creatures to the quizzical nature of the ever present tidal cycles to the circulation that helps regulate our climate despite our worst intentions at control or extraction (whether with intent or not). Folly Beach is hosting a gathering if you’re in the Charleston area or the Lowcountry of SC.

I hope you’ll subscribe if you’re interested in such topics and tell a friend or two!