“Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 222, the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act. SB 222 improves insurance affordability in California by shifting the burden of increased insurance costs away from California ratepayers to the fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis, and makes victims of major climate disasters whole by allowing them to seek damages from fossil fuel companies in court. Major fossil fuel companies intentionally misled the public for decades about the impacts of their products, and now Californians are paying the price with devastating wildfires, mud slides, sea level rise, and skyrocketing insurance costs. When climate disasters strike, SB 222 allows homeowners and businesses to recover damages from the fossil fuel companies responsible for the disasters. The increasing frequency and severity of climate disasters has sent insurance prices skyrocketing across California and has pushed many families into the state’s insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan,” says a statement on Wiener’s website

“When the costs of climate disasters grow too high, both private insurers and the FAIR Plan recover losses by charging higher prices on California policyholders. By allowing insurance companies and the FAIR Plan to recoup losses for major climate disasters from the fossil fuel companies responsible for the damage, SB 222 provides a major infusion of financial support to stabilize the insurance market and contain the high cost of insurance for Californians,” the statement continued.