Big oil’s negligence: LA residents call on fossil fuel industry to pay for wildfire damage

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Experts say climate crisis was likely responsible for a quarter of the dryness that fueled the fires’ rapid spread

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As Los Angeles’s deadly wildfires continue to burn, a group of survivors is taking aim at the industry most responsible for fueling climate disasters: fossil fuels.

Residents impacted by the blazes lamented during a Thursday conference call losing their homes and communities and called for litigation and policies that could force big oil to pay for the damages. In the coming days, lawmakers will introduce legislation with that aim in mind.

“It is hard to properly express how much was lost,” said Danielle Havanas, whose home was destroyed by the Palisades fire last week. “How do you communicate the value of your deceased mom’s journal from 1981 when she was pregnant with you?”

Scientists are still working to determine the degree to which the climate crisis exacerbated the ongoing Los Angeles fires, but existing research makes clear that global warming creates the conditions for more severe and frequent fires. And UCLA climate scientists this week determined that the climate crisis was likely responsible for a quarter of the dryness that fueled the fires’ rapid spread.

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