Bummer: Making “Polluters Pay” Losing Steam In PRC

What a shame: they should make the “polluters” pay in the People’s Republik Of California. Start with all the lawmakers, the governor, and state government employees who support this and still own fossil fueled vehicles. Then everyone who voted Democrat in the PRC

Push to make Big Oil pay for climate damage losing steam in California

Only weeks ago, new science had buoyed state legislation to calculate the costs of climate change in California and force fossil fuel companies to pay for it. A study in Nature published last month took the reported emissions of major oil companies and modeled their effects on temperatures, finding their pollution led to $14 trillion in worldwide economic losses due to extreme heat alone.

Yet in Sacramento, the science of making “polluters pay” is losing momentum in an unfavorable political environment. Rather than risk rejection from their colleagues, the lawmakers who backed the Climate Superfund Act — Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-San Luis Obispo, and state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, D-San Fernando Valley — postponed hearings for their bills in hopes of a better reception later this summer.

Since 2013, when a researcher first compiled company emissions data, scientists, regulators and campaigners have tried to tie individual corporations to extreme weather events. At the same time, improved ways of computing global climate models have yielded more refined data on worsening heat and flooding at the local level. Combining the methods offers a chance to charge companies money for climate damage in a specific region.

But the mood for such a far-reaching approach has soured in the California Legislature, after lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom spent years challenging oil companies by imposing rules on gasoline supplies to prevent price hikes at the pump. Advocates of the climate superfund are now reframing their advocacy, focusing on its potential to serve as a “common-sense revenue generator” amid the state’s projected budget shortfall.

So, it’s really all about being a shakedown. Which would mean that those companies would stop operating in the PRC. They’ll move elsewhere. Move headquarters out. Again, too bad the fossil fuels companies won’t grow some cajones and stop selling their products to the state government of the PRC.

Blame it on anxiety over the costs of living — the focus of the oil industry’s public relations campaign since last year. That, in addition to threats from President Donald Trump to eradicate state emissions policies, have left lawmakers reluctant to take on the industry. One high-ranking legislative staffer, who asked not to be identified to protect their job, told Capital & Main that the “rancid” political vibe in Sacramento is hampering all things climate-oriented

But, wouldn’t all the Warmists in California be excited to see their cost of living skyrocket even more? It’s what they want, right?

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