For far to long Big Oil has polluted the planet without any apparent regard to what damage fossil fuels do to the environment. We now know. The UN has stated we must stop this pollution if we want to mitigate the climate crisis and the extreme weather it brings. California communities are under siege by escalating fires, floods, droughts, and other disasters. From 1980–2024, 46 extreme weather and climate disaster events impacted California, with losses exceeding $1 billion each. 

As the world saw vast areas of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties burn in January 2025 the reality of the level of destruction that the climate crisis can inflict hit home. Globally, just 57 companies are attributed with 80% of planet-heating pollution. Yet these companies rake in billions every year. Chevron, for example, put away $30 billion in profits in 2023. Meanwhile, California is facing a budget shortfall of $32 billion and growing after the L.A. fires — which killed 29 people and burned over 18,000 structures, according to NBC News.

Fires are getting worse because of rising temperatures.  Yet those responsible for the lion’s share of that rise are “desperately trying to avoid accountability,” said former Culver City mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, EOPA California Director, in the Guardian. “Accountability is an existential threat to their business model, and their business model is an existential threat to all of us.”  

Californians and the state have been saddled with the massive bill for climate disasters. Cities and counties have had to pick up the tab for the costs of climate destruction, stretching scarce local resources.The California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act would change that by requiring the largest fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share for the climate damage they’ve caused and prioritize funds for the hardest hit communities.

California is the fifth largest economy in the world. Californian climate leadership – standing up to Big Oil by making the worst fossil fuel polluters pay for climate damage – would mean the world to every community in California, other states, and to nations around the globe. New York passed a climate superfund bill in December 2024, following Vermont.

The California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act is groundbreaking legislation that would make the world’s largest fossil fuel companies pay for the climate damage their products have inflicted on California. Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) California have a letter urging the creation of the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act. Please sign it if you are a current or former California elected official.