West
Alaska hits back at insurers accused of using ‘woke’ underwriting to reshape energy policy as ANWR reopens
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EXCLUSIVE: The state of Alaska sent warning letters Monday to four major insurance firms, saying their climate-related policies may violate state insurance and consumer-protection laws by creating an uneven playing field for energy projects.
The news comes as Alaska’s congressional delegation led a successful effort to disapprove – or overturn – Biden-era restrictions placed on energy exploration in Section 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Thursday, effectively lifting those restrictions.
Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox and Commerce Commissioner Julie Sande warned AIG, Zurich, Chubb and The Hartford that some of their policies may conflict with state rules designed to protect Alaska’s status as a leading investment destination, particularly for energy production.
“Alaska’s insurance code is built on a central premise: underwriting decisions must rest on risk, and that means no discrimination based on extra-legal political, environmental, or long-range policy commitments,” the beginning of each of the four letters read.
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The Alaska pipeline parallels the famous ‘ice-road-trucker’ Dalton Hwy in Alaska. (Lance King/Getty Images)
“And where the insurance code doesn’t reach, our consumer-protection statute prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, which could include misrepresentations of compliance with Alaska law in contractual dealings.”
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy told Fox News Digital his administration is taking a close look at “friction points” that may make it harder to build things in the Last Frontier.
“With respect to how our projects get insured, we’re concerned that some of the underwriting standards being applied today—particularly broad Arctic exclusions and long-range climate-driven policy restrictions—may be shutting out responsible Alaska projects for reasons that have nothing to do with actual risk,” he said.
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Dunleavy said the letters are foremost meant to start a dialogue with the four insurers so that he and officials in Juneau can better understand their policies and underwriting criteria – and clear up any “misconceptions about our state.”
In the state’s letter to AIG CEO Peter Zaffino, Alaskan officials wrote of “substantial concerns” about the insurer’s treatment of the state’s oil and gas sector, amid documentation it published committing to “phasing out” underwriting of existing operation insurance risks and halting new investments for clients deriving 30% or more revenue from coal or oil-sands by 2030.
The company also cited a 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions standard for its policies in a separate document footnoted in the letter.
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“AIG’s net-zero underwriting goal necessarily will result in emissions requirements that do not appear to be tied to short-term actuarial risk within the policy period,” Juneau’s letter read.
“AIG’s goal appears to be an effort to reshape a lawful sector according to AIG’s long-term environmental commitments.”
In a sentiment expressed to The Hartford, Juneau officials wrote that, “when an insurer adopts blanket exclusions based on geography or on long-range public policy objectives untethered to risk, those exclusions function as de-facto prohibitions on investment.”
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In its letter to Zurich’s North America executive Kristof Terryn, Alaska also cited a reported “net-zero” goal of 2050, writing that “whatever the merits of those commitments, Alaska law requires insurers to treat insureds with like risk characteristics alike and to base underwriting decisions on risk—not on corporate climate-policy preferences or extra-legal standards developed to “[l]imit… average temperature increases” in line with the Paris Agreement,” citing a company document.
It warned that Zurich in the future may run afoul of the Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act, but stressed “we do not reach that conclusion here, but it is part of our broader review.”
Alaska took issue with Chubb’s March 2025 announcement that it would no longer underwrite oil and gas projects in International Union for the Conservation of Nature management categories one through four – which it noted included ANWR.
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Cox and Sande wrote that the underwriting prohibition on ANWR is one that “uniquely affects Alaska” and that “Alaska has invested years of planning and permitting work to open responsible opportunity in the ANWR… no other state faces this kind of prohibition.”
Consumers’ Research executive director Will Hild told Fox News Digital that the situation reveals “woke capitalism masquerading as risk management.”
“[I]t threatens jobs, consumers, and President Trump’s energy agenda. Consumers’ Research applauds the Alaska delegation for standing up to these woke insurers and defending Alaskan consumers from political ideology.”
As a response to potential criticisms from a macro level, Juneau officials said Alaska is home to modern transmission systems, well-trained operators and “robust” environmental protection rules.
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ANWR is shown. (Fox News/On The Record)
In prior statements, Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg assured observers that his company will continue supporting energy development through its underwriting.
“We’re continuing to insure oil and gas because the world needs energy,” Greenberg said. “We don’t yet have great alternatives to gas and oil. And it would be irresponsible of us not to continue to insure those in a responsible way.”
ChubbFacts, a noted fact-check site supporting the insurance giant’s arguments in cases such as this, pushed back on claims of “wokeness” and other critiques, saying that it insured some of President Donald Trump’s legal cases, as well as oil companies, manufacturers, construction firms, and American farmers as a leading agricultural insurer—regardless of politics.”
“We’ve taken heat from climate activists for continuing to insure energy companies, but our focus never shifts,” the company wrote on ChubbFacts.com.
Fox News Digital reached out to media contact addresses for The Hartford, AIG, Zurich and Chubb for additional comment.
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San Francisco, CA
Man convicted in the deadly 2021 assault of a Thai grandfather in San Francisco avoids prison
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man convicted in the fatal 2021 attack of an older Thai man in San Francisco, which galvanized a movement against anti-Asian hate, will be able to avoid prison time, a judge ruled Thursday.
Antoine Watson, 25, was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter in the death of Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84. But, having already spent five years in jail awaiting trial, Watson received credit for time served, and San Francisco Superior Court Judge Linda Colfax said he could have the remaining three years suspended if he follows the rules of his probation.
Ratanapakdee’s daughter, Monthanus, expressed her family’s disappointment in a statement shared by Justice For Vicha, the foundation named for her father.
“We respect the court process. However, this is not about revenge — it is about accountability,” she said. “When consequences do not reflect the seriousness of the harm, it raises concerns about how we protect our seniors and public safety.”
Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for his usual morning walk in the quiet neighborhood he lived in with his wife, daughter and her family when Watson charged at him and knocked him to the ground. Ratanapakdee never regained consciousness and died two days later.
Watson testified on the stand that he was in a haze of confusion and anger at the time of the unprovoked attack, according to KRON-TV. He said he lashed out and didn’t know that Ratanapakdee was Asian or older.
San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office defended Watson, also said at his trial that the defendant is “fully remorseful for his mistake.”
The Office of the San Francisco Public Defender did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Watson’s sentencing.
Footage of the attack was captured on a neighbor’s security camera and spread across social media, prompting a surge in activism over a rise in anti-Asian crimes driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of people across several U.S. cities commemorated the anniversary of Ratanapakdee’s death in 2022, seeking justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted and even killed in alarming numbers.
Asians in America have long been subject to prejudice and discrimination, but the attacks escalated sharply after COVID-19 first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. More than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 2020 through September 2021.
While the Ratanapakdee family asserts he was attacked because of his race, hate crime charges were not filed and the argument was not raised in trial. Prosecutors have said hate crimes are difficult to prove absent statements by the suspect.
Denver, CO
‘The math just doesn’t work’: Little India to close in West Highland
Little India will close its West Highland location in the coming months, owner Simeran Baidwan told BusinessDen.
It marks the end of a five-year run at the corner of 32nd Avenue and Lowell Street for the local Indian chain.
“We opened to preserve jobs because we didn’t have enough revenue,” he said of the pandemic days when restaurants were struggling.
The 3496 W. 32nd Ave. store helped keep dozens of chefs and servers in Baidwan’s “Little India family,” he said. Those workers will now have the opportunity to work at his other restaurants.
“Five years later, the question isn’t whether people love the food,” he continued. “It’s whether independent restaurants can survive the compounding pressures and expenses, especially in Denver.”
Baidwan, who opened the first and still-running Little India at Sixth and Grant alongside his parents in 1998, singled out rising minimum wage, insurance, delivery fees and credit card processing fees as factors contributing to the closure.
“I think what it is, is a Denver restaurant industry story, it’s not just our one restaurant story,” he said. “I think what’s happened, in this day and time, is that life has become really expensive. There’s no margins. The math just doesn’t work.”
Being in the Highlands was also a factor, Baidwan said. The desirable location comes with high rent as well as skyrocketing property taxes he’s been responsible for. Add in dwindling consumer spending and Baidwan said his hand was forced.
“Busy doesn’t always mean profitable,” he said. “A lot of people look through the window and assume the restaurant is good, and we have the several locations too. But it just isn’t like that anymore.”
Baidwan said there’s no plan to close his three other locations, in Cap Hill, Central Park and off Downing Street near the University of Denver. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been making tweaks.
At the original store off Sixth, he started operating 24/7 about eight months ago, something he’s thinking about for his other neighborhood restaurants. He’s also added entertainment, like jazz music and dancing, to help get more customers through the door.
Baidwan himself has also returned to the floor as a server — the first job he had at his parent’s store. But having the owner-operator model is difficult for his sprawling Little India empire since he can only be in so many places at once.
“The closure is about sustainability, to sustain what we have. It’s not surrender,” he said “It’s not that we’ve lost the passion of what we do so well. I mean, who does a vindaloo better than Little India?
“We’re really proud of what we built there, and this isn’t about failure,” he continued. “It’s about the reality that the economics of independent restaurants has changed dramatically.”
Read more from our partner, BusinessDen.
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Seattle, WA
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