Amid mounting winter weather damage, D.C. officials build on Maryland’s RENEW Act with a plan to make big polluters pay for the growing costs of the climate crisis.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With extreme winter weather linked to climate change barreling down on the nation’s capital, D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George today announced she was introducing a bill to study the financial impacts of climate change on the city and potentially require fossil fuel companies to compensate the city for adaptation costs. Her “Make Polluters Pay” bill joins at least a dozen other states looking to pass similar legislation. 

“Climate change is not a distant threat for the District – it is already shaping our infrastructure, our public health, and our daily lives, and we need better data to meet that reality head-on,” said Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. “This study gives the District that data, and the predictability we need to protect our residents and build a more resilient future.”

The press conference, co-hosted by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund and Sunrise D.C., is a part of the nationwide Make Polluters Pay Week of Action and comes as the District faces mounting budget challenges and rising costs related to extreme weather. D.C leaders and climate advocates are joining the movement to increase our readiness for our changing climate and demanding that billion-dollar oil and gas corporations be held accountable for the growing costs and damage caused by climate-related extreme weather. 

“I’m proud to stand with CCAN Action Fund in urging the D.C. Council to pass legislation to study fossil fuel’s impact on our local climate crisis,” said Oye Owolewa, D.C. Shadow Member of the U.S. House. “As D.C.’s Representative, I’m also pushing Congress to reject Congressional immunity for Big Oil Corporations. These national polluters must pay for the damages they caused. D.C. residents (and all Americans) deserve pure air, clean water and trash free neighborhoods.”

“From flooded neighborhoods to rising utility bills, D.C. residents are already feeling the day-to-day costs of climate change,” said Claire Mills, D.C. Campaigns Manager, CCAN Action Fund. “It’s time the District creates a real plan to protect us from extreme weather. And it’s time for the corporations that fueled this crisis to take responsibility. D.C. taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for Big Oil’s decades of pollution.

“This legislation will fund a $200,000 study to assess the total cost of greenhouse gas emissions here in the District and identify high priority projects to help D.C. adapt to, as we have seen with the recent snowstorm, intensifying extreme weather,” said  Glenn Hall, Environmental Justice Organizer, Young, Gifted, and Green. “The study will give D.C. the data it really needs to plan effectively for climate impacts as they relate to the District… and bolster the readiness for extreme heat, flooding, and poor air quality. And most importantly, it helps ensure that resources are directed where health risks are greatest.”

Following Maryland’s passage of the fully funded RENEW Act study bill, advocates are “passing the baton” to D.C., with a new study bill that will be formally introduced to the D.C. Council on January 27. The legislation would explore how extreme weather is impacting the District and how a D.C. climate superfund could require major polluters to pay their fair share of climate costs, protecting taxpayers, strengthening community resilience, and ensuring funding for vital programs is not raided after climate disasters. The introduction of this legislation marks both local leadership and national momentum for a fair solution: making polluters pay their fair share to safeguard our shared future.

“Young people have a future worth fighting for,” said Ariana Kretz, organizer, Sunrise Movement D.C. “As D.C. experiences a snow emergency, it’s obvious that making polluters pay is the first step in safeguarding this future by reinvesting into climate and community resiliency.”

Watch the recorded press conference HERE.

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