LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — If you think the chicanery of the 2008 financial crisis was bad, wait until you find out what happens when climate change is added to the mix. Hot Money maps out the course we’re on with startling accuracy. Turn off the corporate noise machine and take a long, hard look at our unfolding reality. Experts in energy, economics, law, banking, and real estate both entertain and educate on the prime force driving our world: debt. The film concludes with the principal strategies we all can employ to avoid calamity.
Hot Money, which wrapped production in February 2020, makes predictions which are already coming true in news headlines:
1. We need to harden our infrastructure:
Climate change means public utilities will need billions in upgrades over the next decade – MarketWatch
“Climate change and increasingly severe weather events will take a toll on aging public utilities, especially water and sewer systems, leading to higher costs, higher debt loads, and rising rates for customers, according to recent research.”
Blackouts Threaten Entire U.S. West This Summer as Heat Awaits – Yahoo! Finance
“Climate change is making it harder to forecast demand for electricity while the shift to clean energy is straining power supplies.”
2. Rising insurance costs will lower asset value:
Rising Insurance Costs Threaten Florida Real Estate Boom – Wall Street Journal
“Florida’s property-insurance market is in trouble, as mounting carrier losses and rising premiums threaten the state’s booming real-estate market, according to insurance executives and industry analysts. Longtime homeowners are getting socked with double-digit rate increases or notices that their policies won’t be renewed. Insurers that are swimming in red ink are cutting back coverage in certain geographic areas to shore up their finances.”
3. Climate change effects on real estate value will act as a contagion on the financial system:
Climate Real Estate Bubble. Is The World On The Brink Of Another Financial Crisis? – Time Magazine
“Millions of American homes are vulnerable to flooding, wildfires and storms, and they will only become more exposed as the effects of climate change worsen. There’s no universally agreed-upon estimate for the total value of real estate at stake, but experts agree that the number is enormous. Research from the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research group that studies flood risk, estimates that flooding alone already results in $20 billion in property loss annually and that this figure will grow to more than $30 billion in 30 years.”
4. Climate change is a national security issue:
Climate Change is a national security issue – US Secretary of Defense Austin April 2021
“Climate change is a national security issue. It’s my belief that no nation can be truly secure without meeting it head on.”
5. Our flood insurance system is unsustainable:
U.S. updates flood insurance pricing for first time in 50 years — Reuters
“Hundreds of thousands of Americans will pay significantly more to insure their homes in coastal areas and flood zones under new rules released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the first major update to its pricing system in half a century.”
6. Climate change increases costs in both the public and private sector:
Outer Banks see 50% rise in property taxes to address climate change – The New York Times
“On the Outer Banks, homeowners in Avon are confronting a tax increase of almost 50 percent to protect their homes, the only road into town, and perhaps the community’s very existence.”
7. Climate change will produce a massive increase in insurance costs:
Florida Homeowners hit with double digit insurance increases – Reuters
“Florida property insurers are jacking up rates by double-digit percentages, blaming the hikes on lingering damage from past hurricanes, a wave of litigation, and a law that encourages lawyers to sue by allowing courts to award them big fees.”
8. Climate change produces political instability, which can happen here:
Right wing mob assaults capitol – Justice.gov
The January 6, 2021 event has been traumatizing to many. Recognizing the mental health impact of this terrible day, the National Mass Violence and Victimization Resource Center (NMVVRC) has developed “Twelve Self-help Tips for Coping in the Aftermath of the Attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
9. Climate change will cause contagion in financial markets as mortgage-backed asset values collapse:
Fed’s Harker says it’s premature to talk about tapering asset purchases – MarketWatch
“The economy needs more time to recover before the Federal Reserve should start to discuss scaling back asset purchases.”
10. Climate change will accelerate once arctic feedback loops come alive and increase carbon in the atmosphere:
Methane pool under Barents Sea containing more methane than is currently in the atmosphere could erupt due to climate change. – EOS.org
“Methane bubbles regularly reach the surface of the Laptev Sea in the East Siberian Arctic Ocean (ESAO), each of them a small blow to our efforts to mitigate climate change.”
For more information and where to find Hot Money visit www.visionfilms.net and www.hotmoneyfilm.com
For Vision Films
Andrea McKinnon – (818) 415-9442,
310108@email4pr.com
For Beachwood Entertainment Collective
Jean Sievers –
310108@email4pr.com
SOURCE Vision Films, Inc.
