The scale of the Los Angeles County wildfire devastation is staggering. With Accuweather estimating the cost of damage to be $250 billion to $275 billion, who will pay for this?
As of now, the burden falls again to the very people suffering in this disaster: Californians.
Yet, a recent report by the Climate Center found that California’s oil and gas companies have avoided paying billions in taxes that could have been used to address climate and wildfire mitigation and could have prevented or shortened this disaster.
Why are we stuck footing the bill when the companies fueling the fire with decades of polluting our communities and planet are getting off scot-free with their record profits?
We need to pass legislation to hold polluters accountable. We need a climate bill that makes Big Oil foot pay to clean up the crises they’ve caused. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators must step up and take action to make polluters pay before it’s too late.
– Zoe Jonick, lead organizer, 350 Bay Area
See full article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/letterstotheeditor/article/california-prescription-drugs-climate-change-20066682.php