Bisnow Examines How Alabama’s Resilience Law Reframes Climate Risk as Economic Protection

Bisnow examined how states with political resistance to the term “climate change” are passing resilience legislation framed around economic protection and risk management. The article centered on Alabama’s Senate Bill 137, signed into law in April, which mandates a statewide risk and vulnerability assessment, formalizes a cross-agency resilience council that includes real estate voices, and creates a chief resilience officer role.

The piece traced how the law grew out of decades of work by homebuilders, roofers, and insurers following Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, and how programs like Fortified, which offers homeowners grants to upgrade roofs to insurance-industry standards, have reduced claims and losses. A study after Hurricane Sally found Fortified roof homes in Alabama had 74 percent fewer insurance claims than unfortified ones. The article also noted that South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Colorado have launched or expanded similar efforts.

Brian Connolly, CEO of Feasibly, was quoted throughout the article. He explained that climate shifts have become harder to ignore as insurers watched severe weather hurt their financial performance. Connolly described how information exchanges created by resilience legislation help all participants in a market assess risk accurately, allowing the market to function rather than imposing a broad cost on everyone.

He observed that the impact of this information would be felt deal by deal, with some projects becoming harder to finance and others easier. Connolly also stressed the importance of keeping private sector voices involved in policy decisions, noting that practitioners can tell officials when a proposed rule would halt development. He expects the Alabama model to be replicated in other states as the private sector calls for a better understanding of disaster risk.