After LA Fires Caused +/- 1/4 TRILLION In Damages, CA Assembly Somehow Just Can't Push "Polluters Pay" Bills For Big Oil
Only weeks ago, new science had buoyed state legislation to calculate the costs of climate change in California and force fossil fuel companies to pay for it. A study in Nature published last month took the reported emissions of major oil companies and modeled their effects on temperatures, finding their pollution led to $14 trillion in worldwide economic losses due to extreme heat alone.
Yet in Sacramento, the science of making “polluters pay” is losing momentum in an unfavorable political environment. Rather than risk rejection from their colleagues, the lawmakers who backed the Climate Superfund Act — Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-San Luis Obispo) and state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) — postponed hearings for their bills in hopes of a better reception later this summer.Since 2013, when a researcher first compiled company emissions data, scientists, regulators and campaigners have tried to tie individual corporations to extreme weather events. At the same time, improved ways of computing global climate models have yielded more refined data on worsening heat and flooding at the local level. Combining the methods offers a chance to charge companies money for climate damage in a specific region.
But the mood for such a far-reaching approach has soured in the California Legislature, after lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom spent years challenging oil companies by imposing rules on gasoline supplies to prevent price hikes at the pump. Advocates of the climate superfund are now reframing their advocacy, focusing on its potential to serve as a “common-sense revenue generator” amid the state’s projected budget shortfall. Blame it on anxiety over the costs of living — the focus of the oil industry’s public relations campaign since last year. That, in addition to threats from President Donald Trump to eradicate state emissions policies, have left lawmakers reluctant to take on the industry. One high-ranking legislative staffer, who asked not to be identified to protect their job, told Capital & Main that the “rancid” political vibe in Sacramento is hampering all things climate oriented.
In January, the urban wildfires in Los Angeles caused billions in property losses, according on an estimate by the county’s Economic Development Corporation. Researchers at UCLA found unusually warm temperatures that dried out foothills were “the clearest way” climate change may have intensified the blazes. The fires inspired legislation that would have allowed victims and insurers to seek reimbursement from oil companies. That idea appealed to Ken Adams, an Altadena resident whose house burned to the ground on Jan. 7. “These big companies and executives, what are you going to do with all the money you make?” Adams said in an interview with Capital & Main. But lawmakers rejected that bill, proposed by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), in committee, citing the potential loss of oil jobs and a rise in gasoline prices. So three bills meant to make oil companies pay for the damage they helped cause fizzled just months after what were likely the costliest climate-influenced fires in state history.
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https://capitalandmain.com/push-to-make-big-oil-pay-for-climate-damage-losing-steam-in-california-legislature