When Governor Cuomo announced appointments to three commissions – NYS 2100, NYS Respond, and NYS Ready – the groups charged with undertaking a review and making recommendations to “overhaul New York State’s emergency preparedness and response capabilities, as well as examining how to improve the strength and resilience of the state’s infrastructure to better withstand major weather incidents”, we were surprised that the insurance industry was not as well represented in the number – not the quality – of participants nominated. Perhaps as additional appointments are made we will see our critical factor in the formula represented. I believe that some of the policing and report card styled actions – see page 12 – might be considerably different in tone and scope, if, say, the insurance industry were able to weigh in heavily. Insurers have proved their mettle again and again, independently for the most part.

The NYS 2100 Commission has been charged to make recommendations on:

Strategies to protect existing transportation, energy, environmental, and other infrastructure systems to withstand natural disasters and other emergencies;
Priority projects to replace damaged infrastructure or to diversify or make more resilient our infrastructure;
Long-term options for the use of barriers and natural protective systems;
Opportunities to integrate infrastructure planning, protection and development into New York’s economic development strategies; and
Reforms in the area of insurance and risk management related to natural disasters and other emergencies.

Appointments

Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation (Co-Chair)
Felix Rohatyn, Senior Advisor to Chairman and CEO, Lazard (Co-Chair)
Richard T. Anderson, President, New York Building Congress
Dan Arvizu, Director and CEO, U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewal Energy Laboratory
Walter Bell, Former Chair, Swiss Re America Holding Company
Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Advisory Member)
Isabel Dedring, Deputy Mayor for Transport, London, England
Lloyd Dixon, Senior Economist, RAND Corporation
Mortimer L. Downey, Vice Chair, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Clark W. Gellings, Fellow, Electric Power Research Institute
Patricia Hoffman, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (Advisory Member)
J. Robert Hunter, Insurance Director, Consumer Federation of America
Sudhakar Kesavan, Chair and CEO, ICF International
Roy Kienitz, Former Under Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Transportation
Timothy Killeen, President, SUNY Research Foundation and SUNY Vice-Chancellor for Research
Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund
Sylvia Lee, Water Manager, Skoll Global Threats
Joe Lhota, Chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority
Miho Mazereeuw, Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Guy J.P. Nordenson, Partner, Guy Nordenson and Associates
John Porcari, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (Advisory Member)
Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow Brookings Institute
Gil Quiniones, President and CEO, New York Power Authority
Jack Quinn, President, Erie Community College
Scott Rechler, Vice-Chair, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Jonathan F.P. Rose, President, Jonathan Rose Companies
Lisa Rosenblum, Executive Vice-President for Government and Public Affairs, Cablevision
John Shinn, USW District 4 Director, United Steelworkers
Mark Tercek, President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy
Robert D. Yaro, President, Regional Plan Association (also member of the NY Works Task Force)

Post Sandy Strategies

Insurance Advocate