The Unintended Consequences of Subsidized Fire Insurance

Matt Welch | September 2, 2009

Washington Post columnist Euguene Robinson had one of those oh-why-do-people-even-bother-living-in-L.A. op-eds yesterday that you see every time the hills burn, or the mountains slide, or the jellos jiggle. Excerpt:

Los Angeles seemed like a good idea at the time. [...]

Does this mean we never should have built Los Angeles, or that we never should have listened to Smokey Bear? Of course not. But it does remind us of how much time and effort we spend dealing with the consequences of decisions that seemed like good ideas at the time. [...]

In the end, the least -- and, probably, the most -- we can do is try our best to envision which of our good ideas seems least likely to burden future generations. Should we be seriously limiting coastal development? Will capturing carbon emissions and storing the stuff underground create new problems for our grandchildren to solve? Is there anything in the works, in other words, that's the equivalent of building one great city that regularly burns[?]

Why yes, Eugene, there is! And not just the "equivalent of building one great city that regularly burns," but the actuality of having taxpayers subsidize the insurance of people who recklessly build hillside manses–not in the great city of L.A., but rather in the dangerous foothills above the bedroom-community towns of the San Gabriel Valley, and up in the firetrap canyons of Malibu. And, in one of the best examples of unintended consequences I can think of, the rich are able to get subsidized insurance for their million-dollar kindling projects because...well-meaning legislators wanted to help minority communities rebuild after the 1968 riots.

Read all about it at Reason.com, circa 2003.

Comments

Richard Hoste|9.2.09 @ 5:13PM|#

Hmmm...can you think of any other decisions that have burdened future generations? Maybe something having to do with California?

___^___^___|9.2.09 @ 5:16PM|#

"Does this mean we never should have built Los Angeles?"

"We"? What did Robinson ever build?

|9.2.09 @ 5:17PM|#

"Will capturing carbon emissions and storing the stuff underground create new problems for our grandchildren to solve?"

Oil and coal didnt cause much of a problem before we took them out of the ground. (and i think those problems are compensated by our ever increasing standards of living)

I think the technology has been proven, over geological timescales at least.

Plastic not-degrading in landfills: Efficient Carbon Sequestering.

Libraries come in second.

|9.2.09 @ 5:22PM|#

Threadjack but well worth it.

Stupidity personified! Ya gotta read it to believe it.

Gunboat Diplomacy|9.2.09 @ 5:33PM|#

"And, in one of the best examples of unintended consequences I can think of, the rich are able to get subsidized insurance for their million-dollar kindling projects because...well-meaning legislators wanted to help minority communities rebuild after the 1968 riots."

Funny how America's problems always trace back to those damed darkies.

|9.2.09 @ 5:33PM|#

For some reason, I'm thinking about Chinatown.

ap|9.2.09 @ 5:51PM|#

i was going to ask how long anyone thought it would take for a nitwit to drop the "you always blame everything on poor people"

luckily Gunboat Diplomacy answered the question before I asked. Thanks for being usefully useless!

Naga Sadow|9.2.09 @ 6:18PM|#

Wait. Hold on a second, Pro Lib. Are you suggesting there is Big Trouble in Little China?

"Okay. You people sit tight, hold the fort and keep the home fires burning. And if we're not back by dawn... call the president."

|9.2.09 @ 6:20PM|#

When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."

Man, I love that movie.

Sean W. Malone|9.2.09 @ 6:21PM|#

Ya knowwwwwwwwwwwwww Stossel did a story about flood insurance that said the same thing.

|9.2.09 @ 6:22PM|#

Washington Post columnist Euguene Robinson had one of those oh-why-do-people-even-bother-living-in-L.A. op-eds yesterday that you see every time the hills burn...

I see your hair is burnin'
Hills are filled with fire
If they say I never loved you
You know they are a liar
Drivin' down your freeways
Midnight alleys roam
Cops in cars, the topless bars
Never saw a woman...
So alone, so alone
So alone, so alone

|9.2.09 @ 6:25PM|#

Though I should say, Naga, that Chinatown was set in Los Angeles, and Big Trouble in Little China was set in San Francisco.

No Name Guy|9.2.09 @ 6:35PM|#

Sounds quite familiar. The mentioned Stossel flood insurance. New Orleans. Florida after every hurricane. And what will be left of Orting after Mt. Rainier erupts.

Par for the couse - expecting other folks to subsidize your life style choices (e.g. live below sea level in hurricane alley, in a fire prone canyon, in the path of a lahar, etc).

|9.2.09 @ 6:42PM|#

I am an obese, recovering alcoholic/porn addict that suffers from chronic pain and the resulting opioid dependance. I live above a krispykreme that sits between a titty bar and a pharmacy. Where's my insurance?

Gunboat Diplomacy|9.2.09 @ 7:00PM|#

"luckily Gunboat Diplomacy answered the question before I asked. Thanks for being usefully useless!"

Snark, dipshit.

|9.2.09 @ 7:03PM|#

Gunboat Diplomacy, I caught it right off. Was gonna correct ap and then figured if I could see it, it didn't need said.

Love the pic btw. Had it for my wallpaper for awhile.

Corkie the Dog|9.2.09 @ 7:23PM|#

Subsidized fire insurance in California? What are you talking about?

Subsidized flood and earthquake insurance, maybe, but fire?

Sincerely,
Corkie the Dog

wayne|9.2.09 @ 7:59PM|#

Stupidity personified! Ya gotta read it to believe it.

Michael Ejercito|9.2.09 @ 8:49PM|#

Why not just expand ObamaCare to cover fire benefits as well as health benefits?

hmm|9.2.09 @ 9:11PM|#

One of the neighborhoods(Altadena) I lived in as a child is close to going up like a Roman candle.

|9.3.09 @ 2:46AM|#

Los Angeles seemed like a good idea at the time.

Not a big fan of either city but after 9/11 wouldn't "New York seemed like a good idea at the time." make about the same amount of sense?

Funny how America's problems always trace back to those damed darkies.

I think the comment goes back to the "well intentioned legislators" who instead of offering liberty which has a damn good track record for building communities and raising minorities out of inequality, chose to give easily corruptible government assistance.

The Wine Commonsewer (TWC)|9.3.09 @ 12:05PM|#

I pay about double the fire insurance rate that people in suburban tract house pay for similar square footage. That is because I live on a brushy hillside that isn't even half as fire prone as Malibu Canyon or the hills in San Gabriel.

There is some truth to the subsidy argument particularly in Malibu where LA County taxpayers fund annual winter efforts to keep the beach from washing away and annual summer efforts to keep the place from burning to the ground.

Privatized fire services would be a plus. Or a Malibu fire district with direct assessments commensurate with the cost of fighting fires and beach erosion.