(Inside California Politics) — One year after deadly fires ravaged parts of Southern California, a lawmaker wants to make fossil fuel companies pay for soaring insurance costs from climate-linked disasters.
A new bill from state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would allow the state to sue major oil and gas companies that are linked to climate change. The money from those lawsuits would help recoup money for survivors of tragedies like the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires.
“Shift the cost of the climate crisis off the backs of Californians and onto the fossil fuel companies that recklessly pushed us to this unbelievably unsustainable place as a state,” Wiener said Thursday at a news conference.
Senate Bill 982, titled the Affordable Insurance Recovery Act, would let the California Attorney General sue major fossil fuel companies for costs associated with climate disasters — including rising insurance costs.
The bill would direct that money into a fund that would help people like Rasheed Ali, who survived the Eaton fire. Last January, the fire tore through his Altadena neighborhood and destroyed the house he and his wife owned for more than 30 years.
“Our house was gone, our cars were gone,” Ali said. “All of our neighbors were gone. Our entire neighborhood was gone.”
Ali said he has committed to rebuilding, but the insurance process and associated costs are astronomical.
“What fire victims need is money,” he said. “It’s very challenging to get the money from insurance companies even though we’ve been paying premiums for 30 years.”
The Western States Petroleum Association blasted Wiener’s bill, calling it a “political stunt that will kill jobs and increase costs for consumers.”
“If these legislators are serious about this issue, they should practice what they preach and walk between Sacramento and their districts,” the trade association said in a statement.
Asm. Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, said Wiener’s bill unfairly scapegoats the oil industry.
“They point the finger at someone people don’t like: Donald Trump, oil companies,” he said. “The real problem here are the politicians that have created the cost of living crisis we’re suffering under.”
But Ali believes Wiener has the right idea on how to help recover from natural disasters.
“The overall issue [stems from] countless weather events,” Ali said. “We know that blame falls on the fossil fuel companies.”
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