Action Items:
This year California is going to make the polluters pay for the climate devastation they’ve caused, because we’ve paid enough! Thousands of Californians are calling on the California legislature to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act (Senator Caroline Menjivar and Assemblymember Dawn Addis, SB 684/ AB 1243) to get the fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share.
Climate change is here. In the first weeks of 2025, flames engulfed whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate and leaving heart-wrenching destruction behind them. This climate disaster alone is estimated to have cost $250 billion.
As horrific as they are, the fires were just the latest climate disaster Californians have endured. From fires to floods, to rising sea levels and more intense storms, to extreme heat and prolonged drought, fossil-fueled climate disruption is already causing havoc across California and costing us billions. Meanwhile the health costs of climate impacts are also rising. Who is going to pay for damages like these?
We know that the world's biggest fossil fuel polluters are overwhelmingly responsible for climate devastation, but right now California taxpayers and families struggling to rebuild are footing the bill. We’ve paid enough!
The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act requires the state to carry out a study to quantify the costs of climate damages in California and establishes a fund into which fossil fuel polluters must pay to cover their fair share of those costs.
These funds will be used to respond to climate catastrophes, build climate-resilient neighborhoods and sustainable infrastructure, support workers suffering from climate-related health harms, and usher in a thriving and fair transition away from fossil fuels.
Sign the Petition: Tell Gavin Newsom that it’s time for California to make polluters pay into a climate superfund that will get money to communities most in need of recovery and resilience.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/californians-make-polluters-pay/
Climate Superfund Phonebank: Join Food and Water Watch to get trained on how to phonebank and drive calls to state legislators in key districts so that we can pass a Climate Superfund!
https://www.mobilize.us/fww/event/767270/
Call your representatives! It’s an effective way to ensure they hear from their constituents. Use the links below to find the office phone number for your state senator and assembly member, and use the script below to either leave a voice message, or speak to your representative’s legislative staff members.
FIND YOUR STATE SENATOR HERE:
https://www.senate.ca.gov/senators
FIND YOUR STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBER HERE:
https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers
Hello my name is ___ and I am from____. I am asking [Assembly member or Senator ____ ] to vote yes on the polluters pay climate superfund bill. This bill will make the world’s biggest fossil fuel polluters pay their fair share for the climate damages they have caused in California. Californians shouldn’t be paying to clean up the mess these polluters made. Please vote YES on the bill to protect communities and invest in California’s future. Thank you.
Let’s Turn OFF The Gas!
“There’s no pathway to stabilizing the climate without phasing gas out of our homes and buildings. This is a must-do for the climate and a livable planet,” said Rachel Golden of the Sierra Club’s building electrification campaign.
The British medical journal, The Lancet, reported in 1996 that the use of domestic gas appliances, particularly gas stoves, was linked to increased asthma, respiratory illness, and impaired lung function.
Local grassroots groups, including 350 VC Climate Hub, Sierra Club Los Padres, CFROG (Climate First: Replacing Oil and Gas), Citizens' Climate Lobby Ventura, the Community Environmental Council, Food and Water Watch, and the Conejo Climate Coalition, have joined a statewide winter 2021 campaign to prohibit fossil gas connections in new homes and commercial buildings. Together, we’ve composed a “Let’s Turn OFF The Gas” letter, addressed to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, the City Councils of Oxnard, T.O. and Ventura, and the Mayors of all 7 other cities in the county, sharing the community benefits of all-electric REACH codes.
Please consider signing and sharing our letter of encouragement to YOUR elected officials urging them to act now. Let's Turn Off the Gas!