1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I write as your constituent in Roseville to express my strong support for SB 982, the climate disasters civil actions bill currently before the Senate Judiciary Committee. California is in the middle of an insurance crisis that is, in no small part, a climate crisis wearing a financial mask. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring civil actions against specified fossil fuel companies to recover costs and losses suffered by the California FAIR Plan Association, funds borrowed from state infrastructure banks, and losses incurred by insurance policyholders arising from past climate disasters. (Digital Democracy) This is a measured and legally grounded response to a genuine emergency. The California FAIR Plan — the insurer of last resort — is increasingly the only option for homeowners in fire-prone communities across this state. When it is overwhelmed by catastrophic losses attributable to a warming climate, the burden falls on ordinary policyholders and taxpayers, not on the industries whose products have materially contributed to that warming. SB 982 corrects that misalignment of consequence. The bill does not seek to punish energy companies for lawful commerce. It seeks to recover demonstrable costs that Californians have already absorbed — costs that climate science can now attribute with increasing precision to fossil fuel emissions. The same legal traditions that hold negligent actors accountable in other domains should apply here. I urge you to support SB 982 and advance it out of the Judiciary Committee. Californians who have lost homes, watched their premiums double, or found themselves uninsurable deserve a state government willing to pursue accountability on their behalf.