A San Jose Mercury News op-ed by Ethan Elkind, Berkeley Law’s Climate Change Research Fellow, criticizes mortgage insurance giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for obstructing a program to finance climate change solutions and promote clean energy. Available here, the op-ed describes how the program helps homeowners pay for the upfront costs of environmentally friendly upgrades through municipal bonds and property tax bill assessments. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have threatened to prohibit mortgages on properties with this assessment because foreclosures result in property tax liens taking priority over the mortgage—meaning the government would get repaid first with the bank receiving the remainder.