Insuring for Global Warming's Surprises

Postponing action on climate change will make the problem more expensive to manage later—if it can still be managed at all. So says a July 29 White House report on fighting global warming. While the message is true enough, changing attitudes about the problem is an exercise in persuasion, and the supposedly hard numbers highlighted in the report aren’t the best way to make the case. The document’s most powerful argument doesn’t lend itself to number crunching.

Dealing with climate change is a matter of managing risk. As the report says, it’s a question of insurance, which every voter understands. You insure your house against fire not because you are certain it will burn down but to guard against the risk that it might. Climate change creates big risks. It’s only rational to insure against them.