No Insurance, No Home: Climate Change is Crushing the Working Class

In Spokane County and across Eastern Washington, homeowners are getting letters saying their insurance won’t be renewed. In wildfire zones like Chewelah, Colville, and parts of the Palouse, people can’t even get new coverage. No insurance means no mortgage. No mortgage means families can’t buy, refinance, or keep their homes.

This isn’t just frustrating. It’s a warning bell. A climate-driven housing collapse is starting and working people in Eastern Washington are on the front lines. Most families in Washington’s 4th & 5th Congressional  Districts can’t afford to rebuild a home after a fire. They rely on insurance, and when that disappears, so does their safety net. They’ll be forced to walk away from homes they worked their whole lives to afford.

Insurance companies aren’t guessing. They’re looking at hard data. Wildfires are getting worse. Heat and drought are becoming more severe. These companies aren’t “woke” they’re calculating. And what they see is clear: it’s no longer profitable to cover homes in high-risk areas. So they leave. And when they leave, working-class families are the ones left behind.

Meanwhile, some politicians still claim climate change is a hoax. But insurance companies, banks, and reinsurance markets know it’s real and they’re acting on it. The result? Lenders stop issuing loans in uninsurable zones. Property values crash. Neighborhoods empty out. This isn’t theory, it’s already happening in Spokane, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Columbia and Garfield Counties.

Yes, there are state programs like the FAIR Plan, but they’re not built to handle this kind of risk at this kind of scale. We’re watching the beginning of a wildfire-driven insurance retreat from Eastern Washington, and it could soon affect tens of thousands of homes. Fireproofing and forest management help, but they’re not enough. No amount of brush clearing can stop the climate crisis.

If we don’t confront the root cause, carbon pollution, this will only get worse. That means phasing out fossil fuels now. No more delays. No more half-measures. We need a clean energy economy that works for working people, and we need it fast. Because inaction is already making Eastern Washington unlivable for those who can’t afford to flee.

We need stronger laws, tougher climate standards, and a government that sides with regular people not oil companies. We must force polluters to pay for the damage they’ve caused and stop funding their destruction with public money. If we treat this like a normal problem, we will lose everything.

This is an attack on the working class. Wealthy people can pay for private insurance or leave for safer cities. But in Eastern Washington, where wages are lower and housing is already tight, people can’t just walk away. They’re being priced out of safety and stability. Climate inaction is already costing them their homes and soon, their futures.