Big Oil Caused the Insurance Crisis
Why shouldn't they pay for their fair share?
Californians shouldn’t have to pay for Big Oil’s mess. That’s why Senator Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill 222, the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act, along with primary co-author Al Muratsuchi and co-authors Senators Lena Gonzalez, Jerry McNerney, Caroline Menjivar, Sasha Renée Pérez, and Henry Stern, and Assemblymember Dawn Addis, to hold Big Oil accountable for the mess they created.
The Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act enables disaster victims and insurers to sue the oil companies that lied about the climate risks of their products. By preserving our access to affordable insurance, we can loosen the grip of today’s climate affordability crisis straining families and businesses across California.
Decades of Big Oil’s greed and lies, fueled by misleading marketing campaigns, created the climate crisis—striking California with more frequent and destructive wildfires, extreme heat, drought, floods, and landslides. Californians are paying the price every day in skyrocketing insurance costs. Insurance companies are essential, but they weren’t built to withstand runaway climate change caused by Big Oil.
It’s time Big Oil paid its fair share when we pick up the pieces after its unnatural disasters upend our homes, communities, and jobs.
Seventy years ago, California’s biggest oil companies learned that their products were dangerous for our climate. To protect their massive profits, they deliberately buried the truth, using climate denial and public relations campaigns to mislead the public and avoid taking accountability for the destruction they caused.
INSURANCE IN CRISIS
Struggling with skyrocketing costs from climate disaster recovery, many insurers have pulled out of California. Millions of us have lost home insurance or faced rake hikes up to $10,000 just to keep the insurance we have. Without affordable insurance options, we cannot protect the lives we work so hard to build.
LA RECOVERY MUST BRING CHANGE
The January wildfires caused the nation’s costliest disaster, and a business-as-usual recovery won’t cut it. Recovery is just beginning, and Californians and insurers are already feeling the impact. After splitting a $1 billion bill to help the state’s insurer of last resort cover claims, the state’s largest insurer aims to hike rates 22% for homeowners, 15% for condo owners, and 38% for renters.
The growing strain of climate disaster costs and lack of affordable insurance will continue without the passage of the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act.
Demand Justice for Big Oil’s Victims
Co-Sponsored By
What We Do
California Environmental Voters is focused on building the political power to solve the climate crisis, advancing justice, and creating a roadmap for global action. We are California’s voice, statewide and nationally, for bold climate action. We elect and cultivate environmental champions, turn election victories into policy wins, hold our lawmakers accountable, and build political power to transform our political system and achieve climate justice. Learn more about what we do.
