A couple days ago Apple’s Tim Cook said climate skeptics shouldn’t own Apple stock (though note that he didn’t keep going and say climate skeptics shouldn’t buy Apple products, too), but this morning Warren Buffett appeared on CNBC and not only endorsed the Keystone pipeline, but also aligned himself with climate skeptics. (Good thing he doesn’t own any Apple stock, or his now-mandatory sale of his position might crash the price.) Damn: looks like I may have to take back some of my complaints about his crony capitalism.
You can see some of the CNBC segment starting with Joe Kernan’s question about climate at about the 1 minute mark here, and still more in this segment. Among Buffett’s answers, as recorded by CNS:
Buffett said the supposed increase in extreme weather “hasn’t been true so far, Joe. We always think it’s cold. We always think it’s cold in Omaha. But, 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.”
If you’ve lost Warren Buffett. . .
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