Pollution from large oil companies devastates communities not only by raising temperatures and harming the health of residents, but also by inflicting substantial costs on cities and communities to mitigate climate change-related damage. 

More and more city officials are beginning to recognize this injustice and take action. City Attorneys in many cities in California, including Imperial Beach, San Francisco, Oakland, and Santa Cruz, as well as other cities across the country, are taking oil companies to court to demand restitution. While it seems that LA should be a perfect fit to join other cities in suing oil companies for compensation, no action has been taken by LA City Attorney Mike Feuer. 

The City Attorney’s office has tremendous opportunities to pursue environmental justice and hold polluters accountable. Small measures have been taken by the office in LA like challenging President Trump’s environmental rollbacks, but the LA City Attorney up until now has never been an ambitious and proactive force on environmental issues. We can change that. City attorneys have the authority and broad discretion to bring environmental claims, and LA should be on the forefront of pushing that envelope. There is an election in 2022 for the next city attorney to replace Feuer, and we need a powerful environmental advocate in that position. Signing this petition means calling on all city attorney candidates for the 2022 election to: 

1) Develop and release a robust, stand-alone platform for how they will use the office to pursue environmental justice in LA (including through litigation)

2) Pledge to join other cities in suing big oil companies for the destruction their pollution has caused

3) Outline specific environmental justice policies they would like to see the LA City Council pursue during their tenure

The climate crisis demands that all of our public officials are fully committed to using the powers they have to hold polluters accountable and create a more sustainable future. Join us, in partnership with the Sunrise Movement and Earth Guardians, in broadening the movement for environmental justice in Los Angeles!