Experts say that California’s “climate whiplash,” which contributed to the devastating wildfires which ravaged communities across Los Angeles County this month, is a result of fossil fuel-driven climate change. These fires, which have already caused billions in damages, are emblematic of a broader crisis fueled by the fossil fuel industry’s relentless pursuit of profit at the expense of public health, public safety, and the environment.
“What has happened in Los Angeles is not just a tragedy—it’s a warning,” said Zachary Norris, California Climate Director at Greenpeace USA. “These wildfires, driven by fierce winds and drought, are just the beginning for our planet in a climate emergency. Fires and extreme weather are growing uncontrollably because of Big Oil’s unchecked emissions, which continue to accelerate climate change.”
Even as President Donald Trump tours the L.A. neighborhoods devastated by the recent fires, he is promising a “Drill, Baby, Drill” agenda that would only compound the climate conditions driving a surge in extreme weather and wildfire damage. Unlike past bipartisan efforts to provide disaster relief, congressional Republicans have suggested tying much-needed aid to conditions, playing politics with people’s homes, health, livelihoods, and even their lives. In the wake of these fires that have cost so many so much, environmental justice and climate advocates are demanding greater accountability from fossil fuel companies and, given Trump’s abandonment of already-inadequate federal climate policies, they are calling on state elected leaders to set a bold, environmental justice focused agenda for addressing climate that is people first and community-driven.
“As a climate lawyer displaced by the Eaton Fire, my stomach turns at Trump bringing his misinformation and environmental mayhem to Los Angeles,” said Maya Golden-Krasner, deputy director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Trump is bought and paid for by Big Oil and his plans will supercharge the climate-fueled disasters I’ve seen ravage my community. It’s crucial that California counters Trump and his oil industry cronies with a climate superfund bill that shifts some of this disaster’s multibillion-dollar burden off Californians to the polluters who set the stage for this horrific mess.”
“Trump’s visit to LA was an insult to California wildfire victims. It came just days after he signed a slew of executive orders that aim to boost profits for fossil fuel executives, pollute our air, water, and climate, and make California more likely to experience out-of-control wildfires. Each of these executive orders will enrich fossil fuel CEOs at the expense of working Americans, like the thousands of Angelenos who lost their homes. With Trump in the White House, it’s time for Governor Newsom to take charge of protecting California communities from climate disasters. That means ending permitting for oil and gas drilling in California, making polluters pay for these climate damages, and implementing a just and rapid transition to renewable energy, ” says Allie Rosenbluth, Oil Change International US Campaign Manager.
Californians face an unprecedented and escalating financial burden from the fossil fuel industry for the harm they have caused to residents on the frontlines of oil drilling and for the devastating impacts of climate change. One potential pathway to meet this challenge is state legislation that assigns a fee to the largest fossil fuel emitters to pay their fair share of the damage they caused with their products. Polling from last year shows 70% of California voters support requiring fossil fuel companies to help pay for climate disaster costs through a climate superfund bill. Funds could be directed to disadvantaged communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and could help with measures to protect people from wildfires such as home hardening in at-risk areas.
“Barely a week into the new year, and fire season is here. This is not normal,” said Ben Jealous, Executive Director of Sierra Club. “Time and again, we are witnessing fossil fuel-driven climate change heighten extreme weather, making wildfires increasingly common and increasingly destructive. We cannot be passive. We cannot elevate misinformation about what is needed to confront the worsening crisis. Leaders must take the action necessary to fund and support the home hardening efforts that make our communities resilient.”
The impacts of climate change in California are made worse by the daily pollution produced from oil production. Even after years of advocacy led by the communities most impacted by fossil fuel pollution in the state, California remains one of the leading oil producers in the nation. Statewide permitting for new oil drilling is drastically down, but local jurisdictions like Kern County aim to rubberstamp thousands of new oil wells and producers are turning to extreme extraction techniques to access declining reserves. Ongoing extraction and refining operations constitute a public health and environmental justice emergency.
“Communities are getting burned on both the front and backend of oil and gas extraction. At the point of drilling, communities have been sacrifice zones for generations, paying for Big Oil’s profits with their health, said Cesar Aguirre of Central California Environmental Justice Network, a member of the VISIÓN Coalition. “Now, on the backend of all the extraction, communities must deal with climate change impacts – from lost jobs and displacement to living in fear of the next climate disaster. For decades, frontline residents have been screaming for our elected officials to wake up and put an end to this dirty industry that will only continue to fuel more harm and destruction. These fires exemplify why we cannot wait another day for bold, decisive action. We are calling on California’s Governor to step up now and lead, not just with words, but with a real plan driven by community needs that once and for all puts the health and safety of people over corporate profits.”
The state has also been ground zero for fossil fuel companies disinformation campaigns. For decades fossil fuel companies have known that their products would have catastrophic impacts on the environment and communities. Archival documents reveal how L.A. was the testing ground for Big Oil’s climate deception playbook during the 1940s and ’50s. Since then they have spent millions of dollars in California suppressing scientific findings to downplay risks, creating industry front groups to fight common sense public health laws, and influencing California politics. Meanwhile, giants like ExxonMobil and Chevron are reporting record-breaking profits. Last year alone, these companies raked in a staggering $57 billion, even as they exploited tax loopholes that cost California taxpayers up to $146 million annually.
“Big Oil executives have known for decades that fossil fuels would lead to climate crisis,” said Barry Vesser, Chief Operating Officer for The Climate Center, a California-based policy nonprofit. “Instead of acting to protect public health, they lied and spent millions on deceptive PR campaigns to continue raking in massive profits. The climate disasters we are experiencing today — including the Los Angeles fires — are a direct consequence of fossil fuel greed. We urge Governor Newsom to make Big Oil, not working Californians, pay for the cost of recovering and rebuilding from the fires.”
As California once again emerges as the counterpunch to federal policy aimed at enriching corporate interests at the expense of communities and the climate, advocates are urging state leaders to meet this critical moment. They are calling on officials to hold Big Oil accountable for the pollution they cause and undo their outsized influence on our political system. By taking bold action, California can move beyond fossil fuels and set a powerful example for the rest of the nation.
“Communities in California are paying the ultimate price while corporations rake in record profits. Every year, the state spends billions on recovery, while the insurance market teeters on the edge of collapse as private insurers face skyrocketing damages from fires and other climate disasters. It’s unconscionable that Big Oil made $281 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022,” said Dominic Frongillo, Elected Officials to Protect America Executive Director and Co-Founder. “There is a better way. A Superfund Act, like one that just passed in New York, would make multinational fossil fuel companies that are responsible for, and profiting from, the climate emergency start paying their fair share. Taxpayers should never have to pay billions of dollars for climate crisis disasters brought on because of the deceitful oil and gas industry. It’s time for the corporations responsible for the destruction to be held accountable.”
“It is unconscionable that Trump and the GOP are politicizing these devastating wildfires by attempting to make relief contingent on endorsing their billionaire agenda,” said Food & Water Watch California Director Nicole Ghio. “If Trump is truly interested in supporting Angelinos, he should start by accepting that climate change is real instead of rolling back our country’s climate policies and doubling down on his support of the fossil fuel industry, whose rampant pollution helps to create the perfect conditions for these megadisasters in the first place.”
“We acknowledge that this climate catastrophe is not a natural disaster; this is the result of colonization and capitalism,” said Jessa Calderon Land, Water, Climate Justice Director for Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. “The repercussions of the fossil fuel industry disproportionately impact: Black, Brown, Indigenous, and economically exploited communities; it’s crucial to acknowledge that fossil fuel industries have been granted the power to extract wherever they place without limits, and specifically locate themselves in areas that create and exacerbate environmental exploitation and racism.
Fires have always been a part of the traditional people and land for many different reasons including food prep, ceremonies as well as to maintain balance and cleanliness over the lands. Many of our Native Plants thrive with fire. Our basket weavers weave better baskets with plants that have grown new shoots after the fires. The problem isn’t solely fire, but the result of land and water grabbing, irresponsible development, the water guzzling plants such as grass, the mineral and fossil fuel mining, pumping and drilling as well as the historic and ongoing suppression and criminalization of Native/traditional lifestyles to upkeep and tend to the lands, waters and wetlands.
We can’t point fingers at one person, entity or situation. It’s a multitude of issues that are related to prioritization of profit over people, lands, waters, and all our non-human relatives. Indigenous Peoples here in California took care of these lands and waters for thousands upon thousands of years and it only took the settler colonial extractive system around 200 years to devastate and destroy. As we speak about solutions, it would behoove us to always consider the future generations who have yet to join us in these conversations to ensure that they have a safe environment to call home.”
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LCA LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that Los Angeles County is the traditional home of the Tongva, Chumash, and Tataviam people. Part of our commitment to decolonizing ourselves, our language, and our organizations is a commitment to learning and better understanding the history of Indigenous Peoples of so-called California, including the history of contact, colonization and the extraction of resources from Indigenous lands which has been part of the continuation of modern colonization.
