Sunny climate stormy climate | Weekly digest #53
This week: A coal plant in Texas will transition to a solar power plant, the climate crisis is fuelling a home insurance crisis in the US and India released its 2023 State of the forest report.
Hello folks!
Welcome to your weekly dose of climate news where I bring one sunny story that gives hope and two stormy ones that are a cause for alarm. Hope you like them!
🌞 Sunny news 🌞
1. A coal fired power plant in the Texas is transitioning to a solar plant with the help of a $1.4 Bn Federal grant
What are we talking about?
A South Texas coal-fired power plant will be converted into a solar and battery facility with $1.4 billion in federal funding.
This plant operated by San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc (SMECI) is one of the dirtiest coal fired plants in Texas. It’s the fourth-largest mercury polluter in the state and has two coal ash ponds on site which leech into the local water table and create some of the most contaminated groundwater in the country.
The grant will be used to replace the thermal power plant with solar and battery storage. Solar is an abundant resource in sunny South Texas, and the plant already has grid connections to make this an easier drop-in than having to run new transmission lines.
The site’s capacity will also see an upgrade. The current coal plant can produce up to 410 megawatts of power, but the upcoming solar plant will be capable of 600 MW
The move will cut 1.8 million tons of annual climate pollution and support 600 jobs.
Why does this matter?
The shift from coal to renewables aligns with broader efforts to combat climate change while addressing environmental justice concerns.
Cleaning up pollution and protecting water resources could improve health and economic outcomes in rural South Texas.
Sources for further reading
🌩️ Stormy news 🌩️
2. The climate crisis is fueling a home insurance crisis in the US
What is happening?
U.S. home insurers suffered their worst underwriting loss this century in 2023. The industry was hit with a $15.2 billion net underwriting loss last year, the worst since at least 2000 and more than double the losses seen in 2022.
This is in large parts attributed to the spate of natural disasters - forest fires, hurricanes - fueled by the climate crisis.
This impact on the insurance industry is leading to a growing insurance crisis characterized by soaring premiums, reduced coverage, and increased policy non-renewals.
Increased Premiums: Homeowners are experiencing dramatic increases in insurance premiums. Between 2011 and 2021, premiums rose by 44%, with an additional 11% increase reported in the last year alone.
Policy Non-Renewals: The rate at which insurance contracts are not renewed by the insurer has escalated, especially in regions exposed to high climate risks. In recent years, approximately 1.9 million policies were not renewed in the U.S
Why does this matter?
Without insurance, you can’t get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a home. Communities that are deemed too dangerous to insure face the risk of falling property values, which means less tax revenue for schools, police and other basic services. As insurers pull back, they can destabilize the communities left behind, making their decisions a predictor of the disruption to come.
Sources for further reading
3. India finally released its 2023 State of the Forest report (SOFR): some worrying results
Key highlights from the report:
Forest cover increases marginally, but degradation, decline in density seen inside recorded forests
The total forest and tree cover of India at 25% (8.2 lac sq km); forest area has marginally increased by ~156 sq km compared to the previous assessment in 2021
However, the state-wise data from the report shows severe decline in ‘Recorded Forest Area’ (RFA) across the country. The areas outside recorded forests (RFAs) are identified as “tree stands with canopy densities that exceed 10 per cent and sizes of one hectare or more”. These areas are also considered as part of the forest cover assessment by the Forest Survey of India in the SOFR.
Additionally, The Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) of 8,333 sq km has reduced to 4,468 sq km, while Very Dense Forest has seen an increase from 2,789 sq km to 2,833 sq km.
Degradation: A total area of 46,707 sq km in terms of canopy density has degraded from very dense forest, moderate dense forest, open forest to non-forest
Western Ghats lost 58 sq km of forest cover since 2013
The Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Area (WGESA), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots.
Forest fires increased 1,339% in Himachal Pradesh, 2,822% in J&K
While there was an overall reduction in forest fire incidents, many states (Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand) showed an increase in the incidents of forest fires
Sources for further reading
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #52
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #51
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #50
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