Guest Commentary written by
Nico Gardner
Nico Gardner is chapter coordinator for the Sunrise Movement in Los Angeles.
It’s been just over a month since devastating wildfires forced tens of thousands of Angelenos to flee their homes. So far, the fires have left a wake of destruction amounting to estimates as high as $275 billion with more than 12,000 homes, businesses and other structures reduced to nothing but ashes.
The “how” and “why” of this aren’t complicated at all.
For decades, scientists have warned that the more fossil fuels we burn, the more we supercharge extreme weather events including wildfires. According to a recent analysis by an international group of scientists, the extreme hot, dry and windy conditions that drove the explosive fires in coastal Southern California were made 35% more likely due to global warming.
But oil and gas companies, driven by profit and corporate greed, have unleashed a smokescreen of denial and lies to shield themselves from responsibility for the climate crisis they helped create. Even worse, taxpayers and local governments are often left to bear the costs through increased insurance premiums, taxes, utility bills and reduced public services.
This status quo cannot last any longer. Fossil fuel companies got us into this crisis, and now it’s time lawmakers hold them accountable by passing crucial legislation this year.
Unfortunately, President Donald Trump’s recent actions don’t inspire much confidence that Americans will get strong federal leadership on climate action. In his first week in office, Trump handed over our climate future to oil and gas companies who bankrolled his campaign.
Chris Wright, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Energy and CEO of the second-largest fracking company in the United States, stood by previous comments dismissing the well-established relationship between climate change and wildfires as mere “hype.” The president’s long list of executive orders has rolled back support for renewable energy and encouraged even more reliance on fossil fuels. In his visit to California, Trump declared that much-needed federal aid to struggling families should be conditioned.
With federal leadership hostile to our recovery, California lawmakers are already taking steps to hold fossil fuel companies accountable. Recently, state Sen. Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill 222, legislation that offers a legal pathway for Golden State residents to recover climate disaster and extreme weather-related losses from oil and gas companies that misled the public about the harm their actions would cause.
SB 222 would also strengthen the critical FAIR system, California’s state-run insurance market. The massive financial costs from each climate disaster raise costs for California taxpayers who pay into the market to insure their homes. SB 222 would allow insurance providers to hold polluters financially liable for covering the cost of climate related damages instead of making other policyholders pay.
California must also pass legislation to establish a superfund paid for by oil and gas companies to help California pay for climate-related damages. Importantly, funds from this program should be prioritized for projects in Black and brown communities that are often disproportionately affected by fossil fuel pollution.
The superfund could raise hundreds of billions of dollars needed to respond to past and future climate-related disasters. In 2020, wildfires in California amounted to economic losses over $19 billion, and estimates place the damage of the recent fires at more than $250 billion. The California Natural Resources Agency’s assessment conservatively estimates that the Golden State will face at least $113 billion in annual climate change costs by 2050.
Shouldering this financial burden will only become increasingly difficult for Californians.
Read More: California infernos in January? Here’s why wildfire season keeps getting longer and more devastating
As California rebuilds, now is the time for these policies to go into effect — policies that support working people.
Oil and gas companies continue to act with a single goal in mind: increasing their bottom line with complete disregard for the safety and well-being of our communities. ExxonMobile and Chevron reported $56 billion and $36.5 billion in record-setting profits, respectively, in 2022. Despite these massive figures, these companies are attempting to pass on hundreds of billions in clean-up costs to our communities in the first few months of the year.
Over the coming months and years, Los Angeles residents face a long road to recovery. Many have lost their homes and their most valuable possessions. Some have tragically lost their family and friends.
California legislators must put an end to for-profit fossil fuel companies destroying our planet just to earn another buck. We need accountability, and we need it now.