I was fishing Wednesday, and I had an all day meeting on Friday (which unfortunately was on a river, so I couldn’t use NewsGator Go! to stay abreast). Saturday I pulled another all-dayer - there was no business talk but there was plenty of discussion regarding “life aquatica” and how to fool them. Some folks might think I missed a lot:

The AP giveth, and the bloggers taketh away…
• The bastion of bias lays out a price list for what is legally free. Techcrunch asks them to pay up.
• Maybe the AP should chase after their member news outlets and leave everyone else alone. The Huffington Post is doing it.

The secrets of success…

• According to George Soros - accept losses and move on.
• According to Bill Gates - compete against stupid, lazy people.
• According to Carl Icahn - be angry.

From the housing market…

• Senators from Connecticut have all the fun.
• Living in Southern California? Not so fun.
• And renters may not be losing their shirts, but they are still second-class citizens.

And the environmentally-friendly, in the world according to Forbes…

• Here’s to the upcoming hydrogen economy, and why the same ol’ players will control it.
• You can’t turn water into wine (without grapes, of course), but someone will try turning algae into oil (with the idea that gasoline comes next).
• Big dams are making a comeback - I wouldn’t mind a few more tailwaters, but I hope big fish get some consideration.

Interestingly, Forbes threw in a note - people aren’t visiting national parks like they use to.

Maybe they’re too busy keeping up with the news.

I like the outdoors as much as the granola-eating types, but get a bit aggravated when I see folks pounding the tables over it. It is a product of short-term thinking. It takes decades to create climate change, but moments for markets to react. And markets do react.

Lumber, oil and other commodities whose harvesting affect the climate are already hovering around historical highs. Top-end costs drive down demand, and the harvesting shifts gears. But that is usually not enough.

Insurance industry, enter stage left.

The rash of hurricanes that hit land this year caused more that $200 billion in losses, and the property and casualty market is going to be reeling for years to come. How are they going to catch up? By raising premiums through the roof, that’s how.

Longer term thinking, enter stage right, and here’s how it could pan out:

1) Insurance industry raises premiums
2) Average Americans start screaming
3) Government provides a patch by setting some type of “casualty fund”
4) More storms hit, “casualty fund” gets drained
5) Government institutes across the board contribution increases to shore up fund (like they did in Florida this last year)
6) Average Americans continue screaming
7) More storms hit, “casualty fund” gets drained
Government gives up
9) Insurers raise rates 10X or more
10) Average Americans can no longer afford insurance
11) Politicians get blamed
12) Someone wakes up
13) Environmental policy change ensues

Yes, it sounds like it would take a while, and nobody on this planet is particularly patient. Fortunately for your impending anxiety attack, that very scenario is what many insurers are already thinking about. Insurers are not just pointing out the risk to the average American either - they are targeting industries - and holding the captains’ feet to the fire.

Raise a CEO’s D&O insurance rates though the roof because his company doesn’t have an environmental impact policy, and I guarantee you things will change.