Join us to Make Polluters Pay!

California is set to consider legislation that would create a state climate superfund. The superfund would assess the biggest fossil fuel polluters in California for the harm they have caused. Those funds would enable California to respond to climate catastrophes, build climate-resilient communities with sustainable infrastructure, support workers suffering from climate-related illnesses, and begin a just transition away from fossil fuels. The biggest polluters have had an outsized role in nearly destroying our climate and have lied about their complicity. They need to pay for what they’ve done so we can pull our state back from the brink.

It’s up to the state legislature. Local resolutions send a powerful message to our representatives in Sacramento that we expect them to hold polluters accountable. More than 25 elected bodies in counties and municipalities around California—city councils, boards of supervisors, and school boards—have now passed a resolution in favor of a Climate Superfund Act. Together these bodies represent more than half of California’s population.

Please watch this two-minute video to learn why legislators, citizens, and local elected officials around California support the movement to Make Polluters Pay. Big thanks to Lis for editing and producing this video, to the Third Act volunteers who did the interviews, and to Fossil Free Media for providing additional interviews and footage.

The California legislature introduced both a Senate and an Assembly version of a Make Polluters Pay (MPP) bill in 2025, and it did not reach the floor for a vote. But the determination to introduce and pass a new bill continues. Third Act and others in the statewide MPP coalition are using this year to build broad grassroots support and momentum around the state to force our state legislators to reconsider the bill in early 2027. By working to get many local city and county MPP resolutions passed in 2026, we will send a clear message to Sacramento that most Californians support its passage and they need to act. This strategy was key in achieving passage of the Climate Superfund Act in New York last year. Vermont has also passed MPP legislation.

Big Oil is already spending big to sink Make Polluters Pay legislation—$34 million for lobbying just in 2025. But if we—grassroots activists, local elected officials, and supporters in the statehouse—work together, we will win.

Join us. Help us sustain the momentum and pass a Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund bill.

Here’s what you can do as an elected official and as a community member:

Actions for local officials (serving on city councils, county boards, and school boards)

Join nearly 140 other California local elected officials from more than 25 counties in signing the Elected Officials to Protect America’s California Superfund letter
Sponsor/co-sponsor a resolution. Go here for a list of jurisdictions that have already passed a resolution, and for a sample you can adapt.
Invite a fellow local elected official who spearheaded a successful resolution in another locality to speak with your colleagues at an informal session or over a Zoom.
Send your colleagues our two-minute social media video featuring local elected officials who have passed resolutions: Make Polluters Pay!

Actions for community members

Join the MPP campaign’s coalition mailing list and register to attend biweekly Zoom calls. This is one of the most important steps to take right now. You will learn everything you need to know about MPP. You’ll get tips from other activists around the state and be able to ask your own questions. You’ll get plugged into the campaigns, learn how to win resolutions in your local jurisdiction, and hear about other campaigns. For example, the coalition has just launched a Town Halls initiative to help keep the Make Polluters Pay issue in front of legislators in 2026.
Learn more about Make Polluters Pay so you can advocate most effectively.
Sign the petition to Governor Newsom.
Share our video featuring local elected officials who have passed resolutions with your networks and local legislators: Make Polluters Pay!
Share this page with friends, colleagues, and others to raise their awareness of Make Polluters Pay. We created templates you are welcome to copy and use:
- Write to your network
- Post on your social media
- Write to your local elected officials—look up your county supervisors, school board members, and city council members online
You might also bring your phone with you to meetings with local elected officials/legislators/staffers and take it along to public events so you can take two minutes to share the video.
Join or organize a Town Hall meeting (sign up here if you’re interested in organizing one in your area between April and July this year) about the human and community economic development costs of climate change and how Make Polluters Pay might help. Invite your state representative or local elected official to come.