Warren Buffett: Supposed Increase in Extreme Weather 'Hasn't Been True So Far'
Any climate alarmist will tell you that climate change is increasing extreme weather events, but liberal billionaire Warren Buffett easily destroyed that argument.
Buffett told CNBC March 3, that extreme weather events haven’t increased due to climate change, saying that weather events are consistent with how they were 30-50 years ago. Buffett, who is heavily invested in various insurance markets, said that climate change alarmism has simply made hurricane insurance more profitable, driving up premiums without increasing risk.
Buffett said the supposed increase in extreme weather “hasn’t been true so far, Joe. We always think it’s cold. We always it’s cold in Omaha. It was cold in Omaha 50 years ago.”
CNBC’s Becky Quick asked Buffett on March 3’s “Squawk Box” if extreme weather events have increased, affecting insurance markets. Buffett responded that “the effects of climate change, if any, have not affected our – they have not affected the insurance market.”
Specifically, Buffett rejected claims that hurricanes have increased due to climate change, citing his experience in hurricane insurance. He said “we’ve been remarkably free of hurricanes in the United States in the last five years.” He added “If you are writing hurricane insurance, it has been all profit.”
Buffett compared the climate to previous decades, dismissing claims that weather events have been more unusual. He said “I think that the public has the impression that because there has been so much talk about climate, that events of the last 10 years, from an insured standpoint on climate, have been unusual. The answer is, they haven’t.”
He argued “You read about these events, but you read about events 30, or 40, or 50 years ago.”
In that same interview, Buffett rejected two other liberal talking points. He expressed concern over an increased minimum wage, agreeing with the Congressional Budget Office that wage hikes would kill jobs. He also expressed support for the Keystone XL pipeline, calling it “useful.”
Buffett, long a liberal darling and active Democrat, has been praised endlessly after calling for higher taxes on the rich. Of course the media is unlikely to publicize these doubts over climate change, just like they failed to report on allegations that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, hadn’t even been paying all of its taxes.
— Sean Long is Staff Writer at the Media Research Center. Follow Sean Long on Twitter.
