Six-Figure Ad Campaign Calls on Big Oil to Pay for California Fires

Fossil Free Media launched a six-figure advertising campaign in California this Friday to support the growing demand that Big Oil companies pay their fair share for the Los Angeles wildfires and other climate disasters that are costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

The California ad campaign, Make Polluters Pay, is highlighting stories of real people who have faced irrevocable harm from the effects of extreme weather while major oil companies rake in billions and fuel climate disasters.

"These companies spent decades burying climate science, poured $30 million into killing accountability legislation last year in California, and now want taxpayers to foot the bill for $250 billion in fire damage,” said Cassidy DiPaola, the communications director for the Make Polluters Pay campaign. “That's not just unfair – it's unconscionable. California needs a climate superfund law to ensure polluters, not working families, pay for the crisis they created."

The ad campaign supports a growing call to “make polluters pay” for the Los Angeles wildfires and other climate disasters. In the last week, more than 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on California public officials to pass a “climate superfund bill” that would raise billions of dollars from Big Oil to pay for recovery and resiliency efforts in the state. A superfund bill was introduced last legislative session in California, since then similar policies have passed in New York and Vermont.

Some of the stories told in ad campaign include:

• The Howes, a family who lost their home to a wildfire in California
• Zion, a 7-year-old boy in Los Angeles who has suffered from the effects of pollution

Wildfire smoke is 10 times more harmful to children’s respiratory health than other types of air pollution, so children living through these increasingly frequent wildfires, like Zion, can develop lifelong health problems.

While these Californians suffered, the fossil fuel industry mounted one of the largest lobbying campaigns in state history to defeat previous climate accountability legislation, with the bill appearing in 76% of Chevron and Western States Petroleum Association's lobby filings. At least 34 major oil producers joined the effort to block the measure. Now, even before any new bill has been introduced this session, these same companies have launched aggressive social media campaigns opposing climate accountability – all while Los Angeles burns.

Climate change has made California hotter and drier, making it easier for fires to start and spread. This is causing a larger area to be burned every year. The area burned by wildfires in California annually is now five times bigger than in the 1970s - nearly all of this increase is due to climate change.

California fires are growing in severity and in devastation as a result of fossil fuel pollution. People have suffered unspeakable losses. The ads call for holding these polluters accountable and making them pay for the damage they’ve caused.

The six-figure ad buy will run on streaming television, YouTube, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as digital platforms.