Activists gathered Thursday to encourage lawmakers to pass legislation which would require companies that contribute to pollution to be assessed fees in California.
Supporters of the bills – SB 684 and AB 1243 – said the timing was especially relevant given wildfires and floods that have affected the county in recent years.
“I stand with our region’s climate advocates and youth leaders to demand what’s long overdue: polluters paying their fair share,” said San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava. “If you profit from causing environmental damage, you should be responsible for the cost of repair.”
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He added that the legislation, dubbed the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund, will hold Big Oil accountable, fund projects that combat climate change, strengthen resilience, and support disaster response.”
The news conference Thursday morning was held at Civic Center Plaza with elected officials and climate activists such as SanDiego350. Many held signs, including ones that read “Climate action now” and “Protect our climate, water and health.”
“Youth will have to deal with the worst impacts of the climate crisis,” said Abby Costello, a Chula Vista high schooler. “Young people like me shouldn’t have to live in constant fear that the world around them is burning.”
Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego, is a co-author of the legislation, along with state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, D- San Fernando Valley and Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay. The proposed fund has Democratic backers, with no Republicans signing on as of yet.
“I’m proud to stand with them in championing bold policies like the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund, and I’ll keep fighting in the Legislature to make sure their voices are not only heard, but drive real change,” according to a statement from Ward’s office.
Fossil fuels account for nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions and more than 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Similar legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives in February; New York and Vermont passed their own bills last year.
Industry representatives object to the efforts. One, Scott Lauermann, a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, responding to the New York law, called it “nothing more than a punitive new fee on American energy.”
Climate advocates say the strength and duration of fires and storms are directly linked to man-made climate change actions such as pollution.
According to the authors of the legislation, it identifies and assesses a fee on some of the world’s largest polluters, “proportional to their fossil fuel emissions since 1990, which is decades after their own scientists advised them of the dire consequences their products would inflict on humanity.”
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