News: Four arrested after fatal pedestrian crash • A2

UNION LEADER
NEW HAMPSHIRE SATURDAY EDITION
“There is
nothing
so powerful
as truth”
DANIEL WEBSTER

UnionLeader.com UnionLeader @UnionLeader Saturday, August 21, 2021 Vol. 159, No. 122

New Hampshire bracing for hurricane

J Southern New England is expected to bear al Weather Service is pro-
jecting 2 to 4 inches of rain
see see more storm damage
in southern New England.
“We have everybody, all
hands on deck. We can-
the brunt of the storm, which is forecast to in New Hampshire, and Eversource CEO Joseph celed all vacations,” Nolan
make landfall Sunday. with the storm likely to slow
down as it moves north, the “We will work until
Nolan said the company
is preparing for hundreds
said during a news confer-
ence in Hartford, Conn., on
Granite State could be in for of thousands to be without Friday. “We will work until
By Josie Albertson-Grove the storm, which will likely hours of rain. the last customer is power across Connecticut, the last customer is back
New Hampshire Union Leader make landfall Sunday after-
noon. In New Hampshire,
After all the rain in July
and earlier this week in back on.” Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, potentially for
on.”
William Hinkle, an Ever-
As Tropical Strom Henri the hurricane will likely be southern New Hampshire, JOSEPH NOLAN several days. source spokesman for New
moves north, on the brink felt as heavy rain and high Cornwell said, the area is Eversource CEO Nolan said crews are get- Hampshire, said crews are
of becoming a hurricane, surf on the coast, said me- primed for flooding with ting ready to respond to already out looking for tree
New Hampshire is getting teorologist Greg Cornwell the rain from Henri. pact. power outages, and said branches that could break
ready. of the National Weather If the storm tracks west, The largest electric com- Eversource has called in during a storm and take
Southern New England is Service. Cornwell said, New Hamp- pany in New Hampshire help from other utility com-
expected to get the worst of Cornwell said the Nation- shire will see less of an im- also serves areas likely to panies around the country. +See Hurricane, Page A4

Play Ball!
AFGHANISTAN

Biden
vows to get
Americans
home
JPresident dismisses
criticism of the U.S.
withdrawal from the
country after a 20-year stay.
By Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal
Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Joe

Biden, rejecting criticism of his
handling of the chaotic U.S. pullout
from Afghanistan, warned on Fri-
day that the operation to evacuate
thousands through Kabul airport
carries risks and promised Ameri-
cans there that “we will get you
home.”
Biden, in a speech and answer-
ing questions from reporters,
dismissed criticism that the admin-
THOMAS ROY/UNION LEADER
istration misjudged the speed with
Team Fire CHaD buddy Ellah Murray, 4, of Tilton, walks away after posing for a photo before the CHaD Battle of the Badges baseball game at Delta which the Taliban would take over
Dental Stadium in Manchester on Friday. The game raises money for Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth. Afghanistan and that he was slow to
start evacuation of Americans and
Afghan allies of the 20-year long
U.S. presence there.
WASHINGTON Biden called the airlift one of the
largest, most difficult of its kind.

Climate risk is serious business for insurers

Keith Lewis
CQ-Roll Call
WASHINGTON — Climate
risk, a growing focus for en-
vironment, social and gover-
nance-minded investors, has
morphed into an urgent issue
for insurers as wildfires ravage
the U.S. and Europe and natural
disasters destroy property and
cost lives worldwide.
In the U.S., more than 2.4
million acres have burned in
more than 100 large fires and
complexes in 12 states this year,
according to the National Inter-
agency Fire Center. Wildfires
also are raging across Greece,
Turkey, Italy, Spain, Russia and
Lebanon, fueled by some of the
hottest temperatures in record-
ed history.
A report this month from the
UN Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change found that
human-produced greenhouse
gas emissions are responsible
for the rise in extreme weather,
heat waves and drought.
On the hook for more claim
payouts, the insurance indus-
try should be doing more to
prepare for climate-related risk,
according to Dave Jones, Cali-
fornia’s insurance commission-
er from 2011-19. Jones is now
director of the Climate Risk
Initiative at the Center for Law,
Energy and the Environment
at the University of California,
Berkeley Law School.
+See Climate, Page A4
Amid U.S. concerns about the pos-
sibility of a militant attack in Kabul,
Biden said the operation is risky.
“Make no mistake, this evacu-
ation mission is dangerous. It in-
volves risks to our armed forces and
it’s being conducted under difficult
circumstances. I cannot promise
what the final outcome will be or
that it will be without risk of loss.
But as commander in chief, I can
assure you that I will mobilize every
resource necessary,” he said.
+See Afghanistan, Page A4

Court upholds Biden eviction moratorium

JAppeals panel sides with administration,
setting up possible high court involvement.
By Jan Wolfe and
David Shepardson
Reuters
WASHINGTON — A fed-
eral appeals court on Fri-
day rejected a bid by groups
representing landlords to
halt the latest moratorium
on residential evictions
imposed by President Joe
Biden’s administration, set-
ting up a Supreme Court
showdown.
In a written order, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit
denied an emergency re-
quest by two chapters of the
National Association of Re-
altors to stop the COVID-19
pandemic-related eviction
ban set by the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention. The morato-
rium, implemented after a
previous one lapsed at the
end of July, is due to expire
on Oct. 3.
Realtor groups in Ala-
bama and Georgia were
among those challenging
the moratorium.
The appellate court’s
order sets the stage for the
Supreme Court to hear ar-
guments over whether the
administration overstepped
its authority by issuing the
moratorium.
“We are disappointed
in today’s ruling, but the
plaintiffs will continue
fighting on behalf of Ameri-
ca’s mom-and-pop housing
providers and plan to file an
emergency motion to the
Supreme Court immediate-
ly,” National Association of
Realtors spokesman Patrick
Newton said in a statement.
A CDC spokeswoman de- DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
clined to comment. Martin Toe and Hulda Suazo of the Granite State Organizing
Under heavy political Project get let in to an apartment building by a couple arriving
home while going door-to-door to offer assistance to renters in
+See Eviction, Page A4 Manchester on July 23.

In this weekend’s NEW HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY NEWS:

News: People have forgotten how to get along Sports: Little League World Series coverage NHLife: The ballad of River Dave
INDEX The weather In the markets: Today’s Chuckle A Small Prayer New Hampshire
Union Leader
Abby...................B3 Crosswords........B3 If you want to know May Your will, Lord, and
Business ............A3 Lotteries.............A4 T-storms Dow: 35,120.08 what someone is really not ours prevail today.
Classified............B2
Comics / TV.... B4-5
Weather.............B6
Forecast, B6 (+225.96) +.65% like, take note of what
they find funny.
Amen ©2021 Union Leader Corp.,
Manchester, N.H.
Page A4 • New Hampshire Union Leader • Saturday, August 21, 2021

Taliban’s official websites Climate

disappear from internet
From Page A1

“The role of insurance

(Reuters) — The official Dari, Arabic, Urdu and commissioner is to protect
websites of the Taliban, English. All five appeared consumers and supervise
who swept to power in Af- to be unreachable on Fri- the financial stability of
ghanistan on the back of day. insurance markets,” Jones
a lightning offensive last A spokeswoman for said in an interview with
week, appeared to have CloudFlare, which online CQ Roll Call. Insurance is
vanished from the internet records list as providing essential for consumers
late on Friday. protection for the Taliban and businesses, but the in-
It was not immediately sites, did not immediately dustry faces climate-driven
clear whether a technical respond to a request for physical risk to covered as-
fault or something else comment. sets as well as transition risk
was to blame. The outage was first re- in their reserve portfolios,
The Taliban operate sep- ported by The Washington he said.
arate websites in Pashto, Post. The risks include invest-
ments in fossil fuel compa-
nies and other greenhouse
gas emitting industries that
are expected to decline
amid the carbon transition
and could become strand-
ed assets, he said. During
his tenure in California, he JOSH EDELSON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES/TNS
was the first financial regu- Buildings are left in ruin as the Dixie fire tears through downtown Greenville, Calif., on Aug. 4.
lator to evaluate insurance
companies’ reserve portfo- mon in other countries, he lation has been introduced IPCC’s sixth climate
lios for climate risk. said. in the Senate. change assessment was
As commissioner, Jones “Those climate risk regu- Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., published on Aug. 9, and its
asked companies to vol- latory practices are the who sponsored the House conclusions were stark. UN
untarily divest holdings standard among financial bill, tied it to the need for Secretary-General António
in thermal coal based on regulators in Europe and transparency in free mar- Guterres called the report’s
REUTERS
economic indicators that Asia,” he said. “By and large, kets. findings a “code red for hu-
projected its decline. He both the U.S. insurance in- “When it comes to mak- manity.”
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on evacuation efforts mandated that insurers dustry and state insurance ing the transition from fos- “The alarm bells are deaf-
and the ongoing situation in Afghanistan during a speech within the state disclose in- regulators are behind the sil fuels to cleaner, cheaper ening, and the evidence is
Friday in the East Room at the White House. vestments in oil, gas, coal or curve.” energy, markets are some irrefutable: greenhouse‑gas
utilities that are more than Climate risk assessments of the most powerful tools emissions from fossil-fuel
Afghanistan 50 percent derived from
those sources.
are something that more
companies and regula-
we have,” Casten said in a
statement. “But for markets
burning and deforestation
are choking our planet and
From Page A1 “As an insurance regu- tors in the U.S. “ought to be to work efficiently, inves- putting billions of people at
lator, one of my respon- doing,” Jones said. tors need transparency. By immediate risk,” Guterres
The United States is des- in the face of the rapid Tali- sibilities was to ensure The practice may be requiring publicly traded added. “Global heating is
perately trying to evacuate ban advances. companies were investing gaining some traction. companies to disclose all affecting every region on
thousands of people from Bolstering the critics’ in assets that retain value, New York’s Department of climate-related risks, my Earth, with many of the
Afghanistan by an Aug. 31 case was disclosure of an so they have adequate re- Insurance is considering bill will empower investors changes becoming irrevers-
deadline, although Biden internal “dissent” memo serves to pay claims,” Jones climate-risk regulations to make smarter decisions ible.”
said this week that U.S. dated July 13 from some said. and the Commodity Fu- and harness the power of
troops at Kabul airport diplomats at the U.S. While it was also the right tures Trading Commission the free market to help us ‘It’s unsustainable’
providing security for the embassy in Kabul. They thing to do for the climate, published a comprehensive win the race against the Granville Martin, director
evacuation could stay lon- warned of swift gains by the decision to ask for di- report on climate-financial climate crisis before it’s too of U.S. policy and outreach
ger if necessary. the Taliban coupled with vestment and disclosure risk last year that included late.” at Value Reporting Foun-
Biden is counting on a collapse of Afghan se- was based on the financial recommendations to assess SEC Chair Gary Gensler dation, said the specter of
cooperation from the curity forces, according to risk facing these invest- insurance reserve portfo- has also indicated his sup- rising payouts from envi-
Taliban, the Islamist mili- a source familiar with the ments, he said. lios on climate risk, accord- port for climate-risk disclo- ronmental catastrophes
tant group that the United situation who confirmed Jones’ office monitored ing to Jones. sure rules and placed the demonstrates the need
States fought. The Taliban an account of the docu- insurers’ reserve portfo- President Joe Biden in effort on the agency’s near- more robust climate disclo-
ousted the Kabul govern- ment published by the lios, applied different cli- May issued an executive term agenda. sure.
ment a week ago as U.S. Wall Street Journal. mate-risk scenarios and order urging federal agen- Outside of Washington, “It’s unsustainable,”
forces withdrew, plunging The memo came less performed stress tests to ex- cies to take into account cli- insurers and regulators Martin said, noting that
Biden into his biggest for- than a week after Biden amine how certain invest- mate-related financial risks. could be motivated to more California’s property and
eign policy crisis. said a Taliban takeover ments might perform under The House is considering seriously embrace sustain- casualty industry paid out
Biden said U.S. offi- was “not inevitable.” various future greenhouse a bill that would require the ability now that several more than $26 billion in
cials are in constant con- The source said the dis- gas emission policies, he Securities and Exchange regions of the country are claims in 2017-18.
tact with the Taliban. He sent cable was acted upon, said. Commission to establish experiencing frequent and Since then, officials have
warned the group that saying it called for an airlift Regulators in the U.S. rules on climate-risk disclo- severe natural disasters. It been expanding fire risk
“any attack on our forces operation, which was an- don’t generally scrutinize sure with tailored require- also coincides with deterio- maps and the amount of
or disruption of our opera- nounced a day after the insurers’ reserve portfolios ments for various sectors of rating climate projections destruction caused by wild-
tions at the airport will be cable was received. for climate risk, but those the economy, including in- from the international sci- fire appears to be worsen-
met with a swift and force- White House communi- practices are more com- surance. Companion legis- entific community. ing, he added.
ful response.” cations director Kate Be-
“Any American who dingfield told MSNBC on
wants to come home, we Friday that Biden’s focus
will get you home,” he said.
He also vowed to get
“is on getting every single
American out of Afghani- Hurricane
out as many Afghan allies stan who wants to get out From Page A1
as possible. Many are fac- of Afghanistan and getting
ing difficulties getting past our Afghan allies as well.” down power lines.
Taliban checkpoints to the The White House has Though the worst of the
Kabul airport for evacua- promised a review of the storm is expected to hit
tion flights. administration’s perfor- Connecticut, Rhode Island
Democratic and Repub- mance in the crisis, but a and coastal Massachusetts,
lican lawmakers say Biden source said this has been Hinkle said there were
did not act swiftly enough set aside for now while at- crews prepared to work in
to withdraw vulnerable tention is paid to the evac- New Hampshire.
people from Afghanistan uations. “We’ll have hundreds
of line tree and service
workers stationed in New
Hampshire,” he said. “We’re
Lotteries preparing for strong winds
and significant impacts
NEW HAMPSHIRE
from Henri as it approaches
the state,” Hinkle said.
Pick 3 & Pick 4 (Aug. 20)......... Day: 110 & 2090 Night: 593 & 4614 Hinkle advised New
Gimme 5 (Aug. 20)...............................................11-16-18-24-25 Hampshire residents to
Lucky For Life (Aug. 19).............................. 11-12-16-38-48 LB 11
Megabucks Plus (Aug. 18)...........................17-20-25-27-40 MB 3 get ready in case they lose
Mega Millions (Aug. 17)................................3-6-16-38-56 MB 24 power. Hinkle said people
Powerball (Aug. 18)...................................35-36-51-55-61 PB 26 should have a supply of
MASSACHUSETTS nonperishable food, medi-
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
cations, flashlights, and
Daily Lottery (Aug. 18) ...............................Day: 7050 Night: 7713
make sure cell phones are The National Weather Service prediction of Tropical Storm Henri’s path Friday evening.
Mass Cash (Aug. 19) ...............................................5-10-25-30-31
Megabucks Doubler (Aug. 18)......................5-7-11-18-29-37 DB 4 fully charged.

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