In the year preceding the devastating Los Angeles county wildfires, big oil fiercely lobbied to kill a polluter pay bill that moved through the California senate and would have forced major fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate disasters. This measure would have required the state's largest carbon polluters to pay into a fund that would be used to prevent disasters or help cover cleanup efforts. The effort to thwart it leaves taxpayers for now shouldering much of the cost of catastrophes.
The latest fire shows exactly how Californians are paying for climate destruction, not just with budget dollars, but with their lives. It underscores why we need to put the cost back on polluters. This lobbying blitz included at least 34 of the world's largest oil producers and their trade groups, with filings indicating over $30 million spent against legislative efforts, showing a clear alignment between climate inaction and the financial motives of the fossil fuel industry.
Collection
[
|
...
]