Say NO to immunity for Big Oil and Gas
To the Editor,
Every time a climate disaster hits we see the same story. Families lose homes, roads are washed out, and taxpayers foot the bill, all while oil and gas companies rake in profits. Fossil fuel corporations knew about the climate crisis for decades and continue to mislead the public. They’re getting richer off our tax dollars. Now, oil and gas lobbyists are urging Congress to give them total legal immunity from laws or lawsuits to hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of taxpayers shouldering the cost, the companies that profited from all this destruction would help fund the rebuilding of roads, homes, schools, and critical infrastructure. We must demand Congress protect our right to hold powerful corporations accountable and say NO to immunity for Big Oil and Gas.
As a high school student, I want to have a future that isn’t overtaken by climate change. For young people like me, climate change is not some far off issue that we hope someone else will deal with. It is a very real aspect of our lives that we need to address. Between warming temperatures and more dangerous storms, if we don’t act now, we risk the livability of our climate in the future. We need the legislature to make sure that it’s the people who make the mess that clean it up.
Sincerely,
Katherine Plosky