A bill introduced in California’s state Legislature would make fossil fuel companies legally liable for damages from climate change, similar to current law holding utilities liable for fires started by their equipment.

Opponents say the bill’s authors are scapegoating the fossil fuel industry for ‘complicated’ weather-related disasters caused by a variety of factors.

Oil industry officials say the bill is ‘nothing more than a political opportunity. We need real solutions to help victims in the wake of this tragedy,

California's bill aims to alleviate the financial burdens on victims of such disasters and insurance companies by allowing them to sue the oil industry to recoup their losses.

State Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced a bill that would create a pathway for Californians affected by fires, floods and other climate disasters to sue fossil fuel companies for damages. The bill would also let insurers do the same to recover costs.

A bill that would allow victims and insurance companies to seek damages in court from fossil fuel companies after weather disasters was introduced Monday in the state legislature by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in an effort to address California’s home insurance crisis.

California lawmakers introduced a first-in-the-nation bill Monday to create a clear legal pathway for individuals and insurance companies to sue oil companies for damages after fires like the ones that destroyed whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles this month.

California State Senator Scott Wiener says that the oil industry should be liable in a natural disaster because oil companies intentionally deceived the public about the risk of fossil fuels.

California lawmakers proposed making fossil fuel companies liable for natural disasters by allowing natural disaster victims and insurance companies to sue them due to their alleged impact on the environment.