Re: “Dems eye $1.5B for L.A.-area fire battle” (Page A1, Jan. 15).
Gov. Newsom shouldn’t have to tap into the new climate bond to pay for fighting and recovering from the L.A. fires. Those responsible for the scale and severity — Big Oil companies — should be paying for it, not the very Californians currently suffering in this disaster.
A recent report by the Climate Center found that California’s oil and gas companies have been avoiding paying billions in taxes that could 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 for decades are getting off scot-free with their record profits?
We need to pass legislation to hold polluters accountable — a climate superfund bill that makes Big Oil pay to clean up the crises they’ve caused. Gov. Newsom and California legislators, step up and take action to make polluters pay before it’s too late.
Zoe Jonick
Oakland
See full article: https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/01/23/letters-trumps-agenda-what-nation-ordered-1977/