A diverse coalition of environmental and economic watchdog groups has banded together to promote fiscally and environmentally sound catastrophe policies. NGOs ranging from Friends of the Earth and Defenders of Wildlife to the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and the Competitive Enterprise Institute have banded together to create Americans for Smart Natural Catastrophe Policy.

While supporting mitigation efforts to protect homes against hurricanes, "the coalition opposes proposals being considered in Congress that would create moral hazards by providing direct or indirect subsidies for coastal homeowners' insurance policies, thereby giving people incentives to build homes in hurricane-prone, environmentally sensitive areas."

Of immediate concern to the smart catastrophe policy group is that the "National Flood Insurance Program is already $18 billion in debt, but some in Congress want to make matters worse by adding wind coverage to the program. Adding wind to the NFIP would unnecessarily burden all taxpayers by using their tax dollars to subsidize homeowners in catastrophe-prone, environmentally-sensitive areas."

Policies that simultaneously protect taxpayers, home owners and the environment deserve widespread support. The public deserves no less than smart, synergistic market-based polices – and the government can not afford any more bailouts.

See Americans for Smart Natural Catastrophe Policy website