Make polluters pay for climate change impacts — Close to Home

At $250 billion in damage, the Los Angeles fires are officially the costliest climate disaster in U.S. history. Here in Sonoma County, we know all too well what a long and expensive road it can be to rebuild from catastrophic fires. Eight years after the 2017 fires destroyed more than 5,000 homes and businesses in the North Bay, local officials are still working to repair infrastructure, rebuild housing and restore native plants.

As California’s fire season becomes longer and more deadly, state leaders are scrambling to figure out how to cover the rising price tag for rebuilding after disaster strikes.

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom has made fire response a priority in the past, the state faces a $12 billion deficit this year, meaning major investments in climate preparedness are on the chopping block.

The federal government isn’t helping either. The new administration seems more interested in playing politics than helping fire victims, threatening to withhold aid to California if state leaders don’t cooperate with a laundry list of far-right policy priorities.

Meanwhile, Californians are struggling with the rising cost of living. Electricity rates in California are nearly double the national average and have skyrocketed in recent years, outpacing inflation even while investor-owned utilities rake in record profits.

So, where will the money come from to rebuild California’s fire-impacted communities? And to ensure the next fire is less destructive and deadly?

The answer: make polluters pay.

Big Oil executives knowingly fueled the climate crisis for decades. They knew that pollution from oil and gas would lead to climate chaos. They even predicted climate change would contribute to the hot, dry conditions that fueled the L.A. fires.

Instead of acting to protect public health and our shared climate, oil executives have spent the past 75 years manipulating elected officials to block climate action. Today, Californians are paying the price.

Now is the time to hold polluters financially accountable.

That’s why I’m urging state Senate President Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, to support the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act. Under this proposed legislation, oil and gas corporations would pay a fee based on the amount of climate pollution they’ve emitted since 1990. The funds would then be used to shift the burden of paying for climate damages from working Californians to the corporations responsible for the climate crisis.

Remember that we’re talking about some of the wealthiest corporations in the history of the world. While the planet burns, they’re raking in record profits. “In 2023, we returned more cash to shareholders and produced more oil and natural gas than any year in the company’s history,” bragged Chevron CEO Mike Wirth last year.

Companies like Exxon, Chevron and Shell all have so much cash on hand that they spent a record $38 million on lobbying last year in California alone.

Despite polling showing that 70% of Californians support making polluters pay for the cost of climate damage, a similar effort stalled in the Legislature last year. Big Oil’s lobbying muscle was a major reason why. Since then, climate superfund laws passed in both Vermont and New York.

California can’t afford to miss this opportunity again. The climate crisis won’t get any cheaper. It’s time to make polluters pay the price instead of working Californians. Let’s pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act and start investing in our future.

Barry Vesser is chief operating officer for the Climate Center, a climate and energy policy nonprofit founded in Sonoma County.

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