Disasters are a disability issue

Jan 06, 2023 View in browser   By Debra Kahn and Jordan Wolman THE WEEK THAT WAS Victoria Asberry is assisted with her wheelchair as residents of New Orleans evacuate ahead of Hurricane Gustav in 2008. | Mario Tama/Getty Images DISASTERS' UNEQUAL BURDEN — Advocates have been trying for years to draw attention to the harsh conditions that people with disabilities face after natural disasters. New federal data shows that the suffering is worse than anyone could have imagined. Census Bureau data released Thursday shows that people with disabilities are far more likely than anyone else to face major hardships including displacement from their homes due to a major disaster, Thomas Frank reports for POLITICO's E&E News. The Census data also confirm that disasters generally have a harsher effect on disadvantaged groups, including low-income households and people who are racial or ethnic minorities. But E&E's analysis of the data shows that people with disabilities suffer far worse consequences than any other group. Perhaps the starkest disparity is that people with disabilities are much more likely than others to be forced to leave home during a disaster. Evacuation often leads to people being permanently institutionalized and facing a cascade of other problems. Once they evacuated, most people with disabilities never returned home, according to the Census data. For example, 59 percent of deaf evacuees reported that they never went back home. That's more than quadruple the displacement rate for people without hearing problems. More than 74 percent of evacuees who are unable to walk reported experiencing a lack of food one month after a disaster. By contrast, just 9 percent of people who can walk faced a food shortage, Census figures show. Only 7 percent of evacuees with good hearing were in unsanitary conditions. The information marks the first time the Census Bureau has analyzed how disasters affect groups of people. It comes as increasing disaster damage due in part to climate change is drawing attention to the disproportionate impact on marginalized people. Advocates said they weren't surprised by the findings, but are hoping the data will galvanize long-standing efforts to improve the treatment of people with disabilities after destructive hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other events. "I hope that this will allow people to open the door a bit wider and assure that people with disabilities are a central force in creating and cultivating more inclusive disaster planning and protection across this country," said Justice Shorter , a disaster adviser for the National Disability Rights Network. "They are indeed the folks who are most impacted." BUILDING BLOCKS INSURING FOR SUSTAINABILITY — Insurance giant Chubb Ltd. this week announced the creation of a division focused on underwriting for the climate-related aspects of its business. The new unit brings together Chubb groups that work with fossil fuel and renewable energy companies, climate technology startups and agribusinesses. The reorganization comes as Chubb and other insurers face pressure from federal regulators and investors to reveal more information about how they are addressing the financial risks posed by climate change. Two months earlier, the Treasury Department unveiled plans to determine whether increasing damage is making property insurance scarce or unaffordable in parts of the United States. That effort could require more than 200 large insurers to present detailed information about their homeowners insurance policies and claims. Treasury's initiative is supported by environmental and consumer groups but opposed by the insurance industry. Remember this: Loyal readers will recall a September report from As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy nonprofit, which placed Chubb as the 10th-most risky insurance company when it comes to fossil fuel exposure. Corbin Hiar has the details. AROUND THE NATION ChargePoint and Mercedes have new charging options for your '30-minute retail' experience. | John Locher/AP Photo WHAT HAPPENS AT CES — The tech world's annual fair in Las Vegas this week has a distinctly sustainable bent, with sessions on "the era of sustainable consumer electronics," "the secret sauce for ESG value creation" and "Inflation Reduction Act investments in energy infrastructure" alongside robot dogs and pee trackers. A roundup of some EV announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show: — Mercedes-Benz and ChargePoint will install at least 400 fast charging stations across the U.S. and Canada aimed at the "new 30-minute retail economy." — Stellantis will sell an all-electric Ram pickup truck starting next year. — Finnish electric motorcycle manufacturer Verge Motorcycles will begin sales of its $27K and up Tron-looking bikes in "select U.S. states" this year. (Reservations cost $100 and deliveries will start "approximately in a year," according to CEO Tuomo Lehtimäki.) — Blink Charging unveiled five new chargers (for fleets, retail, street and home use) and two new apps. Movers and Shakers ZETA STAFFS UP — Al Gore III — yes, the former vice president's son — will be the new executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, Timothy Cama of POLITICO's E&E News reports. ZETA also hired Thomas Boylan, formerly of EPA's Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, to be its regulatory director. Outgoing ED Joe Britton will turn his focus to his lobbying firm, Pioneer Public Affairs, which mainly represents companies working on low- and zero-emission technologies and similar causes. Molly Spaeth has joined the comms team of sustainable consumer product company Chewie Labs. She most recently worked on executive communications at Amazon. (H/t Daniel Lippman.) YOU TELL US GAME ON — Happy Friday! It's hard to begrudge all the rain in drought-parched California, but we're getting there. Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. We deliver data-driven storytelling, compelling interviews with industry and political leaders, and news Tuesday through Friday to keep you in the loop on sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott, deputy editor Debra Kahn, and reporters Jordan Wolman and Allison Prang. Reach us at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com,jwolman@politico.com and aprang@politico.com. Want more? You can have it. Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still free. That's sustainability! WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — President Biden signed three bills yesterday boosting tribal water rights in Arizona. — ESG-minded investors see a silver lining in Republicans' attacks. — EPA proposed new emissions standards for soot that it says will benefit disadvantaged communities.   Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman Allison Prang @AllisonPrang   Follow us

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