Risk assessment is part of everyday life. We do numerous little risk assessments every time we make a decision about something, or choose this option over that option, in both our personal and professional lives. While some risks are minimal (should I choose this lunch or that lunch?), other risk assessments carry huge implications. Choices about where to live, what vehicle to drive, what power source to use, and which companies to support, all carry risk. As we evaluate those decisions, we (consciously or subconsciously) evaluate the risks which go with each option.

While risk assessment has always been a part of our lives, recent environmental changes have made risk assessment more complicated for everyone. For example:

• Hurricane size and frequency may be changing due to changing weather patterns as part of global warming. Additionally, the likelihood of two or more storms hitting a single geographical area over a short period of time appears to be increasing.
• National insurance carriers are refusing to offer new coverage in a number of states due to their expectation of catastrophic policy payouts, leaving residents and businesses without insurance coverage.
• Geologists have greatly improved seismic risk assessment, in terms of understanding both the strength and frequency of future earthquakes for any one geographical area. The West Coast of the USA is particularly at risk, due to a combination of explosive urban growth, poor preparedness and outdated building codes. However, predicting the exact timing and location of those earthquakes is still a challenge.
• Weather extremes such as drought, floods, rain or snow events and extreme heat are all increasing, yet it’s difficult to pinpoint when any given area will experience such an event.
• The push to introduce new EVs as a solution to climate change, ignores the implications of millions of gas-fueled cars which remain on the road, with no easy option for retiring them from service. While some advocate for converting those gas guzzlers to EVs, the conversion process has costs and complexities of its own.
• Outdated or behind-the-times legal concepts and legislative policy will continue to constrain emergency climate action. Policymakers at all levels of government must anticipate how current legal concepts will need to evolve quickly enough to accommodate climate change demands.

Individuals, companies, non-profits and multiple government agencies are already reviewing the current best estimates for any given type of risk. However, as described above, it is difficult to nail down exactly when and where the next crisis will develop. It is safe to say however that any given area faces at least a plausible risk of some type of environmental crisis within the next few years. To deal intelligently with increasing risk, guesswork must be replaced with transparent, understandable math. Individuals, businesses, communities, public organizations and government agencies are all looking at how best to prepare for the next crisis, whatever form it may take.

Risks to health, safety and personal property, whether natural or man-made, must be recognized and managed at all levels of society. Lessons learned from failed corporate or government policy must be acknowledged and employed. Better Energy LLC examines these risks and offers suggestions for how individuals, families, companies and public institutions can prepare.