Big oil pushed to kill bill that would have made them pay for wildfire disasters
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Legislation has new life in wake of Los Angeles catastrophe but US fossil-fuel industry is already mobilizing against it. In the year preceding the devastating Los Angeles county wildfires, big oil fiercely lobbied to kill a “polluter pay” bill that moved through the California senate and would have forced major fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate disasters.
Fossil-fuel industry lobbying in California spiked to record levels during the 2023-24 legislative session, and the polluter pay bill was among the most targeted pieces of legislation, a Guardian review of state lobby filings found. The bill was included in about 76% of 74 filings last year from two top lobbying forces in the state – oil giant Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association, the largest fossil-fuel trade group in California.
Chevron and Western States’ filings that included polluter pay totaled over $30m, although it is impossible to know spending levels for individual bills because lobbying laws do not require a breakdown. Others in the lobbying blitz included at least 34 of the world’s largest oil producers, industry trade groups, and a range of greenhouse gas-polluting companies such as Phillips 66 and Valero, records show.
The measure would have required the state’s largest carbon polluters to pay into a fund that would be used to prevent disasters or help cover cleanup efforts. The effort to thwart it leaves taxpayers for now shouldering much of the cost of catastrophes in part fueled by big oil’s pollution.
