Sophia Tada (she/her): Youth volunteer with Youth v. Oil
The image of Los Angeles engulfed in flames will never leave me. Thick smoke filled the air and the sky turned an eerie, dark orange. Families, children, and elders fled homes reduced to ashes. Entire communities lay in ruins. Just two hours away, I wasn’t watching a distant tragedy unfold on a screen; I was living in its shadow. When the flames died down, the real question emerged in my mind: Who would pay for the damage?
Right now, the answer is us: taxpayers, ordinary people, those who had no say in the decisions that created this crisis. Climate change, driven primarily by human activities like burning fossil fuels, is intensifying wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and droughts, making these disasters more frequent, destructive, and expensive. The connection between greenhouse gas emissions and the extreme weather events occurring today is clear: the companies most responsible for these emissions keep raking in billions, untouched by the destruction their products have caused. This is why we urgently need a Climate Superfund.
The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund (SB 684 and AB 1243) is simple: a legislative mechanism designed to hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for the environmental damage caused by their emissions. The goal is to dedicate funding for initiatives that address or seek to mitigate the damage of climate change, especially in vulnerable communities.
Taxpayers bear the financial burden of wildfires, floods, and other climate-related disasters. From 1998 to 2024, there were 46 confirmed climate disasters in California whose losses exceeded $1 billion each. Additionally, the federal government spent over $120 billion in 2017 responding to climate disasters. This is money that could have gone to schools, healthcare, and infrastructure. Instead, it’s being used to clean up a mess created by fossil fuel giants who knew decades ago that their products were dangerous.
Some claim that oil companies will simply pass the costs onto consumers. However, the reality is that this fee is based on past pollution, not current production. The Superfund targets specific companies that have extracted, produced, or refined fossil fuels over the past 20 years, contributing more than one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Companies like ExxonMobil can’t raise their prices to escape responsibility; they’ll just lose customers to smaller competitors not affected by the Superfund.
California isn’t alone in this fight. Vermont and New York have already passed Climate Superfund laws, requiring polluters to pay for climate mitigation. These funds have helped upgrade stormwater systems, invest in green infrastructure, and support frontline communities hit hardest by disasters.
If the Superfund had already been in place, things would have been different for the communities destroyed by the 2025 wildfires, which are estimated to cost $250 billion. We would have had better fire-resistant infrastructure, more resources for disaster response, and support for those who lost everything. With the money from the Superfund, California could upgrade water systems to prevent catastrophic flooding, expand job opportunities, improve the quality of jobs, improve emergency response for wildfires, and support workers transitioning to clean sectors.
For me, this is not just policy; it’s personal. My generation is inheriting a world that’s already burning, and we’re being told we must pay for the mistakes of companies that knew what they were doing. It is unfair and unacceptable. We can’t stop wildfires overnight, but we can take action to ensure we’re better prepared next time and to ensure there is no next time. My generation deserves a fighting chance—not just to survive but to thrive.
Ultimately, the Climate Superfund isn’t about punishment—it’s about justice. It’s about ensuring that those who profited from the crisis must contribute to the solution. It’s about protecting frontline communities, future generations, and all Californians from the mounting costs of climate change. We have the opportunity to create a more equitable and resilient future. Call your representatives, join local climate action groups, and demand that California follow the lead of Vermont and New York. Youth v. Oil will be working on gaining support for the Superfund; fill out the volunteer interest form today and join us in shaping the future. Let’s ensure that next time disaster strikes, the right people are paying the price.