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Article

28 Jan 2025

Author:
Tran Nguyễn, AP

USA: California proposes bill to hold oil and gas companies liable for climate change-related disasters

"California considers letting victims of natural disasters sue oil companies for damages" 28 January 2025.

Oil and gas companies would be liable for damages caused by climate change -related disasters in California under legislation introduced Monday by two Democratic lawmakers.

The proposal claims that the oil industry intentionally deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels on climate change that now have intensified storms and wildfires and caused billions of dollars in damage in California....

Under state law, utility companies are liable for damages if their equipment starts a wildfire. The same idea should apply to oil and gas companies, said..executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, “for their massive contribution to these fires driven by climate change.”

The bill aims to alleviate the financial burdens on victims of such disasters and insurance companies by allowing them to sue the oil industry to recoup their losses....

If approved, California would be the first state in the U.S. to allow for such lawsuits, according to the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener.

“We are all paying for these disasters, but there is one stakeholder that is not paying: the fossil fuel industry, which makes the product that is fueling the climate change,” Wiener said at a Monday news conference.

The new measure is bound to face major backlash from oil and gas companies, who have faced a string of defeats in California in recent years as the country’s most populous state started to shift policy priorities to address climate change.

The Western States Petroleum Association, representing oil and gas companies in five states, already signaled it will fight the bill. President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd said state lawmakers are using the LA fires to “scapegoat” the industry....

Supporters said the measure will also help stabilize the state’s insurance market by allowing insurers to recover some of the costs after a natural disaster from oil companies, which will prevent increased rates from being passed onto policyholders. The bill is supported by several environmental and consumer protection groups....

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