Leading Climate & Social Justice Organizations Rally Around Make Polluters Pay Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 4
Washington, D.C. -- Some of the nation’s leading environmental, climate, and social justice organizations are applauding the news that Senator Chris Van Hollen will be introducing a “Make Polluters Pay” bill that would force fossil fuel corporations to pay a fee associated with their share of historic emissions.
“Look around and you can see our planet burning, melting, and flooding in real-time -- and it's hitting Black and brown working-class communities the hardest,” said Natalia Salgado, Director of Federal Advocacy at the Working Families Party. “It is past time for the multinational companies responsible for all this suffering to pitch in and help clean up their mess.”
“Polluters should pay their fair share for the damage they cause, period,” said Sara Chieffo, LCV Vice President of Government Affairs. “This is especially true when it comes to the catastrophic costs of the climate crisis -- from extreme heat, fires, droughts, storms and floods to long-standing environmental injustice, the actions of polluters are having devastating impacts. We commend Senators Van Hollen, Markey and Sanders for the Polluter Pays Climate Fund – an important addition to the debate going on right now in Congress.”
“It's no secret that major oil companies have profited obscenely by dumping climate change impacts on vulnerable states like Maryland and our Chesapeake Bay. Senator Chris Van Hollen's new bill -- the 'Polluters Pay Climate Fund' -- will at last bring $500 billion worth of overdue compensation to us and citizens nationwide,” said Mike Tidwell, Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and CCAN Action Fund.
The Make Polluters Pay Plan would require major fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron to pay an annual fee that corresponds with their share of carbon dioxide emissions, but does not fully account for their share of the costs. As proposed, the plan would generate $500 billion over 10 years, money that could be used to combat the climate emergency, advance environmental justice, and more.
“Every year climate polluters kill hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and over nine million people world wide. Polluters must pay for all the pain and suffering they cause our communities,” said Kaniela Ing, Climate Justice Campaign Director with People’s Action. “Every Democrat, Republican, and Independent learned at some point that ‘if you make a mess, you clean it up.’ This idea is neither controversial nor partisan. It deserves widespread support among members of Congress, especially as members obsess over finding more ‘pay-fors’ to fund the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and the American Jobs Plan."
“It is common sense to make polluters pay for the destruction they have caused to our planet and communities,” said Natalie Mebane, Associate Director of U.S. Policy at 350.org. “Fossil fuel companies are the reason we are experiencing climate chaos from heat waves to wildfires, stronger storms and hurricanes to winter freezes, and they continue to sow misinformation and lies about their role. With the window of opportunity closing for meaningful climate action it is imperative that they foot the bill for the urgent transition we need to a country powered by renewables. We fully support Senators Van Hollen, Markey, and Sanders in establishing the Polluters Pay Climate Fund.”
“When you break something, you pay for it. When you make a mess, you clean it up. Fossil fuel companies need to be held to the same standards that we hold our children. Companies like Exxon, Chevron, and Shell are most responsible for the climate emergency we are living in today and should pay for the damages they caused,” said Janet Redman, Greenpeace USA Climate Campaign Director. “Making polluters pay for the recovery of our communities and planet from the damage they’ve caused is an important first step towards holding a morally-bankrupt industry that has harmed our health and destroyed our environment to account.”
"In July, scores of organizations called on New York's Congressional delegation to make climate polluters pay for the damages that they have caused to our planet," said Blair Horner Executive Director of NYPIRG. "Senator Van Hollen's bill turns that call into groundbreaking Congressional legislation. Now the eyes of the nation turn to Senate Majority Leader Schumer: Can he make the oil and gas industries pick up the tab for the messes that they have created?"
Senator Van Hollen and advocates will be pushing for the Make Polluters Pay Plan to be included in the infrastructure package that Democrats intend to push via budget reconciliation. The funding generated by the plan could help pay for the transition to a clean energy economy and environmental justice priorities, programs that would help protect the climate and create millions of new jobs.
“The need to stop, undo and fix the impact that air pollution has on the health and future of our planet couldn’t be more urgent, particularly for communities of color who continue to suffer the most from inaction,” said Dianne Enriquez, Co-Director of Community Dignity Campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy. “We need legislation that holds polluters accountable and supports the work of leaders and communities that are fighting for environmental justice. It’s time big polluters pay to address the devastating damage they’ve caused to our people and our planet. ‘The Polluters Pay Climate Fund’ is one important step toward less toxic air and healthier communities.”
Advocates were quick to stress that the Make Polluters Pay Plan is just one of the ways that polluters need to be held accountable. The plan is intentionally written to leave the door open for ongoing and future lawsuits, legislation aimed at forcing fossil fuel companies to pay an even larger fee for climate damages, and regulations to limit polluting emissions.
"Oil companies knew for decades their product was killing the planet. We need both litigation and legislation to address these crimes against humanity. Senator Chris Van Hollen's bill -- the 'Polluters Pay Climate Fund' -- is a $500 billion step in the right direction on the legislative side,” said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus. “It prioritizes investments in disadvantaged communities hit hardest by runaway global warming. While this bill won't fully solve the climate crisis, it's an overdue first step toward full justice."
“Communities are grappling with severe climate impacts, including stronger hurricanes, extreme flooding, and more devastating wildfires—burdens almost impossible for disadvantaged communities to bear,” said Kathy Mulvey, the fossil fuel accountability campaign manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Making fossil fuel polluters fund a comprehensive federal response to climate change is an important step toward holding these companies accountable for blocking climate action for decades and toward foiling their deception and greenwashing campaigns.”
“Sen. Van Hollen’s bill is a key part of our country’s emergency climate response,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “With devastating evidence of the climate crisis all around us, this bill would make fossil fuel polluters pay for a small portion of the ongoing damage that oil, gas and coal are causing to our planet. President Biden and everyone who wants a livable future should throw their full support behind this common sense legislation.”
The costs of climate disasters and fossil fuel pollution have been mounting across the United States. This summer has already seen dozens of temperature records smashed, hundreds of lives lost, and billions of dollars in damages from climate related extreme weather. Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities are especially vulnerable to pollution and climate impacts due to years of environmental racism.
“My family lost everything to Superstorm Sandy. Now, the skies are darkening, subways are flooding, and the heat is relentless. Meanwhile, the Democrats who run all three branches have talked themselves blue, no pun intended, about the importance of climate action. Making polluters pay is an obvious step towards getting the real money we need to confront the climate emergency. It's time to get serious: don't delay, make them pay,” said Rachel Rivera, a survivor of Superstorm Sandy and member of New York Communities for Change.
The fossil fuel industry has known for decades that their pollution would lead to catastrophic climate impacts, but instead of warning the public, they covered up the science and lobbied against any legislation to address the crisis. Earlier this month, an ExxonMobil lobbyist was caught on a leaked tape admitting to lobbying against Biden’s climate agenda and using “shadow groups” to spread climate misinformation.
“It is encouraging to see policymakers heed the growing demands of people across the US and the world to make Big Polluters pay for fueling the climate crisis,” said Swetha Saseedhar, Senior Climate Organizer, Corporate Accountability. “For millions of people, the climate crisis has already arrived. Action taken to hold Big Polluters liable can and must be used to fast track a just transition off fossil fuels and provide reparations for the communities most affected. Elected officials must hold polluters accountable for harms and end their license to pollute—including by investigating and suing this abusive industry.”
"For decades, oil and gas giants lied about their role in causing climate change while taking billions in subsidies from taxpayers, often paying little or no taxes themselves,” said Richard Wiles, Executive Director of the Center for Climate Integrity. “With hundreds of lives lost in climate-fueled disasters this year alone, polluters need to pay their fair share to help the nation speed the transition to clean energy."
