LOS ANGELES — On July 1, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of AB 1243 (Addis) and SB 684 (Menjivar), known as the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act. If enacted, this landmark legislation would require the world’s largest fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share of the costs associated with climate change damage, adaptation, and mitigation in California.
Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who introduced the resolution, highlighted the urgent need to shift the financial burden of the climate crisis away from taxpayers and back to the corporations that knowingly caused it.
“Every year, Californians see the impacts of climate change getting worse. And every year, taxpayers are left holding the bag while fossil fuel companies count record profits,” said Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the City Council’s Budget Committee. “These companies knew for nearly 50 years exactly what their products would do, and instead of acting, they spent billions lobbying politicians to look the other way. The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act is simple: If you made the mess, you help pay to clean it up. It’s time to make the polluters pay.”
Senator Caroline Menjivar, author of SB 684, added, "I’m grateful to the leadership of Councilwoman Yaroslavsky and the Los Angeles City Council, for standing with California’s taxpayers to say, polluters must pay! In a time when our cities and the state are facing difficult budget decisions, we must take decisive action to ensure the burden of fixing decades-long environmental damages isn’t left on the backs of our taxpayers. On behalf of the people of Los Angeles, we demand these polluters pay a fraction of their earnings to relieve our taxpayers of the sole financial burden of accelerating climate related disasters."
“Californians' budget problems will only get worse with more costly climate disasters like the L.A. fires, so lawmakers need to look for real solutions,” said Maya Golden-Krasner, deputy director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Big Oil’s already poised to get surging federal subsidies. Instead of taking aim at California’s environmental protections, state leaders should hold the largest fossil fuel polluters accountable for the costs of their climate damage to the state. Passing the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act would raise billions of dollars to bolster public services, fortify against future climate catastrophes, and invest in our communities. That’s why a broad coalition of health, environmental justice, worker rights, youth, and climate groups are demanding lawmakers pass this bill.”
If passed by the State Legislature, the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act would direct billions in recovered costs toward wildfire prevention, climate adaptation, community resilience, and other projects that benefit communities most impacted by climate change.
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