Pass Polluter Pays Laws for Climate Catastrophes (State Level)
Phone scripts and emails to make the corporations who profited off of climate change pick up the bill for the damage in our state
Contact your state lawmakers:
The fossil fuel industry’s massive investment in Donald Trump is paying off, as he’s launched a full-bore attack on green jobs and renewable energy and attempted to unravel climate action and crucial environmental protections that might get in the way of their maximizing their profits. It’s clear that much of the climate action in the United States over the next four years will have to end run the federal government.
And as climate disaster after climate disaster has demonstrated, we have no time to waste. The Los Angeles wildfires alone are estimated to have done $250 billion in damages and economic losses. This is a bill that someone is going to have to pay.
Environmental activists at the state level are working to ensure fossil fuel companies foot the bill to help us recover from climate damage and prepare our infrastructure for more in the future.
In 2024, both Vermont and New York passed climate superfund laws that require their state’s largest carbon polluters to pay into an account that would be used for disaster prevention and cleanup – taking the burden off of regular folks and putting it on the corporations who profited from the crisis.
These measures are extremely popular. Similar laws have been proposed in:
California – AB1243 and SB 684, state specific-petition here
Connecticut – HB6280 and SB1199
Maryland – passed HB128 and SB149 to study the costs, state-specific petition here
Oregon – SB682 and SB1187, blocked in Senate Committee on Energy and Environment
Rhode Island – H5424 and S0326
Big Oil and Gas are terrified of these laws – so much so they’ve gotten Trump to try to stop them. The White House issued an executive order on April 8th ordering the Justice Department to take action against state laws targeting climate change in the name of boosting the fossil fuel industry, which will be used to target climate polluter pays laws. Experts have flatly called the order unconstitutional and it will be subject to considerable legal challenge, but it’s as clear a sign as we are going to get that this movement is winning.
The time is right to push forward. Let’s reach out to our state legislators and governors and urge them to pass a “polluter pays” climate superfund law in our state. We can use the scripts and language below, or send them this message via Resistbot by texting SIGN PQDLOO to 50409 (which will lack the bill numbers).
PHONE SCRIPTS
You can find your state legislators with this tool from Plural Policy and contact information for your governor here.
Hi, my name is _________, and I’m a constituent from (city, zip). (If voicemail, leave street address).
I’m calling because I want our state to be the next to make climate polluters pay the bill for the disasters they’re causing. I’m asking ______ to publicly support (BILL NUMBER OR) climate superfund measures and fight to make them law.
Global warming is getting worse, and the price tag for it is getting bigger. Climate change doesn’t care whether we believe in it or not, and neither do the bill collectors. Someone has to pay for the repairs once the wildfires or floods or storms are over. I think that should come out of the profits of the big corporations that created the crisis instead of putting the burden on regular taxpayers like me.
[IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN FINANCIALLY BURDENED BY CLIMATE DISASTERS, SHARE YOUR STORY HERE]
Thank you for your time and consideration.
EMAIL LANGUAGE
You can find your state legislators with this tool from Plural Policy and contact information for your governor here. You can send a less individualized version direct to your governor and legislators by texting SIGN PQDLOO to 50409 – if your state has a specific bill introduced or you have a story of being affected by climate disasters to share, it will not be included.
As global warming grows worse, the price tag for it grows larger. Climate catastrophes costing billions of dollars in damages are becoming more and more common, and someone has to foot the bill for the necessary repairs after they’re over.
[IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN FINANCIALLY BURDENED BY CLIMATE DISASTERS, SHARE YOUR STORY HERE]
Multiple states have now passed “polluter pays” laws, creating superfunds which their state’s largest carbon polluters will pay into to cover the price of recovery and infrastructure improvements that will protect our communities from future climate events. This takes the financial burden of climate disasters off of regular taxpayers, and instead takes it out of the profits the fossil fuel industry earned creating this crisis in the first place.
[IF YOUR STATE HAS A LIVE BILL:]
(OUR STATE) is considering a similar polluter pays measure, (BILL NUMBER). I am urging you to support passing this into law as soon as possible.
[IF YOUR STATE DOES NOT HAVE A LIVE BILL:]
I am urging you to pass a similar polluter pays measure into law as soon as possible.
Thank you for your time and consideration.