Bill to Hold Oil Companies Liable for Climate Disasters Introduced
Senator Scott Wiener introduced legislation to hold oil companies liable for damages from climate change. SB 222 would allow individuals and insurance companies to sue oil companies for a “climate disaster or extreme weather or other events.”
SB 222 would authorize a civil action “against a party responsible for a climate disaster or extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change due to the responsible party’s misleading and deceptive practices or the provision of misinformation or disinformation about the connection between its fossil fuel products and climate change and extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change.”
The bill would also require the state insurance program, California FAIR Plan Association, to sue “a responsible party for a climate disaster or extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change, if the association pays claims and the independent advisory body determines the benefits of subrogation outweigh the costs.”
Wiener stated that the bill “improves insurance affordability in California by shifting the burden of increased insurance costs away from California ratepayers to the fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis, and makes victims of major climate disasters whole by allowing them to seek damages from fossil fuel companies in court.”
“Californians are paying a devastating price for the climate crisis, as escalating disasters destroy entire communities and drive insurance costs through the roof,” Wiener said in a statement.
“Containing these costs is critical to our recovery and to the future of our state,” he said. “By forcing the fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis to pay their fair share, we can help stabilize our insurance market and make the victims of climate disasters whole.”
The Western States Petroleum Association denounced the bill. “The announcement of today’s proposal is the latest installment of an ongoing effort to scapegoat our industry — and the thousands of hardworking women and men who keep California running — for political gain, while complex problems continue to go unsolved,” CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd said in a statement.
The legislation’s focus on “misleading and deceptive practices” and “misinformation or disinformation” from oil companies is part of the state’s campaign to expand the liability of oil companies. Notably, in September 2024, California alleged that ExxonMobil led a “campaign of deception” about the recyclability of plastic “that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.”