Climate protestors demand fossil fuel industry ‘pay up’ over Los Angeles-area fires
Youth climate activists slept outside an oil refinery in South L.A. to demand $200 billion in climate reparations.
- Share via
Climate activists with the Los Angeles chapter of Sunrise Movement have entered their second night stationed outside of a Phillips 66 oil refinery in South L.A.
They’re demanding that the fossil fuel industry, responsible for the climate crisis, cover the cost of wildfire relief and finance the state’s transition to clean energy. The January wildfires are projected to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Studies find that climate change may have increased the frequency of wildfires by 25% and likely contributed to the extreme dryness of vegetation that burned in the L.A. fires.
The activists are also calling on the state Legislature to hold the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluters accountable. One state measure, Senate Bill 1497, would have seen these polluters pay into a fund covering climate disaster costs, but was ultimately killed by the Big Oil lobby.
California is suing five major oil companies for their ‘“decades-long campaign of deception” over climate change, a lawsuit that will proceed following this Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on state claims against the fossil fuel industry.
In response to Sunoco vs. Honolulu, Los Angeles lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., who represents Chevron, said the company “would continue to defend against meritless state law climate litigation, which clashes with basic constitutional principles, undermines sound energy policy.”
Phillips 66 did not provide comment on the wildfires or Supreme Court case, but shared that “employees [were] safe and that there [were] no operational impacts to the facility.”
The company announced last October that its Carson refinery, where activists plan on spending a second night, along with its twin site in Wilmington, would shut down by the end of 2025, given community demands for cleaner air and the growing popularity of electric vehicles.
They’re demanding that the fossil fuel industry, responsible for the climate crisis, cover the cost of wildfire relief and finance the state’s transition to clean energy. The January wildfires are projected to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Studies find that climate change may have increased the frequency of wildfires by 25% and likely contributed to the extreme dryness of vegetation that burned in the L.A. fires.
The activists are also calling on the state Legislature to hold the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluters accountable. One state measure, Senate Bill 1497, would have seen these polluters pay into a fund covering climate disaster costs, but was ultimately killed by the Big Oil lobby.
California is suing five major oil companies for their ‘“decades-long campaign of deception” over climate change, a lawsuit that will proceed following this Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on state claims against the fossil fuel industry.
In response to Sunoco vs. Honolulu, Los Angeles lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., who represents Chevron, said the company “would continue to defend against meritless state law climate litigation, which clashes with basic constitutional principles, undermines sound energy policy.”
Phillips 66 did not provide comment on the wildfires or Supreme Court case, but shared that “employees [were] safe and that there [were] no operational impacts to the facility.”
The company announced last October that its Carson refinery, where activists plan on spending a second night, along with its twin site in Wilmington, would shut down by the end of 2025, given community demands for cleaner air and the growing popularity of electric vehicles.
