Dear Senator Umberg,
On behalf of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC), AFL-CIO, I write to you in strong opposition to SB 222. This bill seeks to overturn long-established jurisprudence by making companies producing a legal and in-demand product strictly liable for damages caused by natural disasters that might have been accelerated due to climate change. The bill ignores basic principles
of legal causation, the countless industries, individuals, companies, and jurisdictions that have themselves materially contributed to the climate crisis, and picks a villain.
The members of the SBCTC have been at the forefront of our state’s climate crisis response. Over twenty years ago, we started training and deploying members in what are now California’s vast solar and wind fields. Working closely with our local affiliates, we have fought tirelessly for policies and entitlements that have made California a global leader in renewable and green energy. And we are just getting started as we continue to advocate for on and offshore wind, geothermal, hydrogen, bio-fuels, carbon capture, energy storage, and much more.
We also proudly represent tens of thousands of traditional energy workers throughout the state who are literally keeping the lights on and the economy moving in our in-state power plants, refineries, and related industrial infrastructure. We understand the reality that our state is decades away from no longer needing oil and gas to operate. Also, as we represent hundreds of thousands of working families, we are keenly aware of how energy policy affects affordability in California. Simply said, working Californians cannot afford policies prioritizing politics over people. And that is precisely what this bill does.
This bill clearly chooses a political path by picking the oil companies as its target but conveniently leaves out other industries, including agriculture and non-transportation derived sources, that have arguably created and continue to pose a much larger systemic threat to our climate. Certainly, if the author had written this bill to hold any entity that has materially contributed to climate change strictly liable for their legal operations, it would not have been nearly as politically palatable.
This bill seeks to politically leverage an awful disaster and pick and choose based on political whims and, if successful, would itself create an economic disaster that would ultimately be borne by the people who can afford it the least, working Californians. Decades of litigation against a legal industry that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in California would undoubtedly cause more industrial closures, bringing about thousands of additional union job losses and steep increases in the cost of commuting to work and school.
So much has happened in the last several months that should remind policymakers of how important it is to pay careful attention to the difficulties faced by working families struggling to afford to live in California. We all must prioritize their immediate needs, including their ability to afford necessities in life, including being able to maintain their jobs and afford to drive to work and school. We need to be doing everything we can to make things more affordable and less politically polarized. If successful, this bill would do the opposite.
We stand firmly with all the families impacted by the fires in Southern California, including our members and their families, and we are working closely to provide skilled and trained workers to help expedite the clean-up and rebuilding. But SB 222 will do nothing to reduce carbon emissions and prevent future disasters. It will merely turn accepted legal jurisprudence on its head for political purposes and, in the process, sacrifice needed industrial jobs and further increase the cost of daily life for every Californian.
For these reasons we strongly oppose SB 222.
Sincerely,
Chris Hannan
President