Recently, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in favor of 16 children who sued the state for violating their constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment" by not curbing greenhouse gas emissions. (Credit: Parradee/Adobe Stock)
California legislation introduced on Jan. 27, 2025, would give victims of natural disasters a private right of action to sue oil and gas companies for damages related to climate-change driven losses, a legal avenue that the bill's author said is needed following the devastating LA County fires.
SB 222 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would also create a direct cause of action for insurers to recover their coverage payouts from fossil fuel producers. Additionally, the bill calls on the administrators of California's insurance-of-last-resort program, the FAIR plan, to sue Big Oil for claims payments submitted by customers if an expert determines the benefits of such litigation would outweigh the costs.
Oil and gas companies have "endless resources," Wiener said at a press conference.
"Profits continue to just spiral and spiral into the stratosphere, and then we are left holding the bag in terms of paying for these disasters," he added. "SB 222 will ensure that the fossil fuel industry is part of the solution."
The legislation, if successful, would appear to be the first nationally giving individuals and insurers a pathway to link oil companies to damages caused by severe fires, floods and windstorms.
In a statement, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, called the bill an attempt to "scapegoat our industry" for political gain. "We need real solutions to help victims in the wake of this tragedy, not theatrics," Reheis-Boyd said.
Wiener's office did not immediately make the bill's language public. But a bill supporter who reviewed a draft said the measure would give standing to sue to any Californian who suffers more than $10,000 in losses in a weather event that can be tied to climate change.
Although an individual may pursue such a claim now, "we need the state to say that there is a proximate cause. Otherwise you're just in the weeds," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.
States — including California — along with cities, counties, land trusts and tribes have sued fossil fuel-producing companies for environmental impacts in the United States, according to a litigation database compiled by Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Citizens of Peru and Indonesia have sued, too, in foreign forums.
But no such suits appear to have been filed by individuals seeking recovery for personal damages in the United States, said Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center.
"There's a lot in this [legislation] that would be a first," he said.
Recently, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in favor of 16 children who sued the state for violating their constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment" by not curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
"In the context of standing, we've had courts affirm that climate science is sufficient to establish a causal relationship" between fossil fuels and environmental impacts, Burger said, "but not in the context of damages."
Wiener said his bill will face stiff headwinds in the Legislature. Oil companies and their trade groups are frequently among the top spenders on lobbying state lawmakers.
"We're ready for the fight, and I look forward to the conversation ahead," Wiener said.
The Consumer Attorneys of California is supporting the bill, although the plaintiffs bar group is not a sponsor. Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, said he had not seen the bill yet and had no immediate comment.
This article first published in The Recorder.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.