Wildfires and California: A discussion of mitigation efforts, government policy, insurance and more

That's a really solid roundup of the issue. I do hope that cities take a more thoughtful approach to whether a given development is something that they can feasibly support given the expected revenues from that new construction. I am absolutely not saying that government "should be run like a business," but being sure that it can bring in sufficient revenue to continue providing the services it's citizens want is rather important. If a new expansion will cost more to service than it will pay in taxes, the choices are raising taxes, lowering quality of service, or bankruptcy.

I haven't read Naked Capitalism in far too long!

The obstacle that underlies all the issues outlined under the heading of wildfire mitigation is the history of personal land use in the West. Unlike the East where the predominant cultural ethic is the common good, the prevailing ethic in the West has always been that you can do whatever you please with your land and defend it with lethal violence if necessary.

Trying to keep people from living in the Wilderness/Urban interface or regulating how they do so is very much an uphill battle.

The exodus of AIG, State Farm and Allstate from the California homeowners market (17-22% of their book of business IIRC) is likely going to be the most effective countermeasure as there is no real court of appeal, just the FAIR plan which is actually a reinsurer. It's worth noting that two entities were methodically analysing climate change impacts in the US as far back as the 90's: DARPA and reinsurers.