Oakland – Today, by a 7-0 vote Oakland City Council passed a resolution in support of the California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act (AB 1243/SB 684). Oakland residents and advocates attended the hearing to show support and call for the City Council to pass the resolution.

Oakland joins seventeen other cities and counties – including all four of California’s largest cities – in support of making polluters pay. In addition, over 100 local elected officials across the state have endorsed the Superfund. The cities of Alameda, Berkeley, Albany, and Oakland in Alameda County have also now endorsed the bill. Local advocates are now urging the county to support the bill as well. 

“We are deeply grateful to Council members Zac Unger and Carroll Fife for bringing this important resolution to Oakland City Council and to the Council for passing it,” said Barbara Rhine with 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations and an Oakland advocate working to pass the Polluters Pay bill. “Oakland will not be spared the harms of Climate Catastrophe and we must make sure municipalities like ours have the resources they need to prepare for and respond to climate damages without costing taxpayers. The Polluters Pay bill does just that and ensures at least 40% of the funds it raises go to frontline communities. I’m proud that Oakland has joined 17 other California cities and counties in calling on our legislators to support it.”

The resolution also came on the heels of a student walkout in late October when thousands of students from more than 50 California middle schools, high schools, and colleges walked out of class in a coordinated statewide action demanding oil and gas companies be held financially accountable for the damage fueled by their pollution. As part of this day of action, Oakland youth also marched and rallied outside Oakland City Hall to demand that leaders, including local legislators like Senator Jesse Arreguín, support this vital legislation.

“We applaud the Oakland City Council for listening to their constituents – and the youth in Oakland, across the Bay Area and across the state – who want polluters to be held accountable,” said Food & Water Watch Northern California Organizer Isabel Penman. “We now look forward to our state leaders taking up this important bill in January.”

The Polluter Pay Climate Superfund Act would make major polluters pay their fair share of the skyrocketing costs of climate disasters like wildfires, floods, and extreme heat. It is currently on a two-year track and expected to be taken up in January.