Last year the fossil fuel industry spent an unprecedented amount of money lobbying California's state capital, Sacramento. New analysis from Global Witness shows they are on track to spend even more this year, including on efforts to block climate action.
In the first 6 months of 2025 fossil fuel companies and trades groups that have opposed the Superfund bill spent $17 million lobbying California’s state capital, Sacramento - 23% more than they did during the same period in 2024.
Global Witness analysed state records to identify all fossil fuel companies and trade groups that have listed the climate Superfund bill in their lobbying activities for either 2024 or 2025. We then pulled the lobbying spend of each entity on the list to come up with their overall spent for the first two quarters of this year.
The increase in lobbying spending coincides with mounting pressure on polluting firms to pay up for their role in contributing towards climate damage, particularly since the LA wildfires this January.
These wildfires were made more likely and intense by fossil-fuel driven climate change and resulted in over 37,000 acres being burned, 16,000 structures being destroyed and the deaths of at least 29 people. Californian taxpayers have been absorbing the costs of recovery from the wildfires, with insurance rates skyrocketing and new housing even more unaffordable.
In the wake of this destruction, Californian senators introduced the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, a bill which would hold oil firms financially accountable for their role in climate breakdown. However the legislation has not moved forward since April amidst strong lobbying and industry opposition.
Mai Rosner, senior fossil fuels campaigner at Global Witness said:
“At the start of this year, the world was aghast at the scenes of loss and destruction in LA – but communities didn’t just grieve and rebuild in the wake of the wildfires, they demanded justice.
“After years of weather extremes, the wildfires were a flashpoint for the Polluter Pays movement, with Californians demanding oil giants pay up for their role in fossil-fuel charged climate breakdown.”
"In response, Big Oil has aggressively ramped up its lobbying efforts, doing all it can to protect its enormous profits instead of supporting the communities devastated by climate breakdown. While this may have halted progress for now, they won’t be able to escape justice forever."
As the intensity of climate change accelerates across the US, so to do efforts to avoid liability by the industry most responsible.
In California, the biggest spenders are the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and American oil giant Chevron. In 2025, WSPA, a trade association whose members include Exxon, Shell, Chevron, Valero, Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum and others spent $6.5 million on in-state lobbying. . Chevron spent $7.6 million.
The fossil fuel industry is able to spend millions on California lobbying each year because it is raking in billions more. Together, the oil companies lobbying Sacramento through WSPA declared $74 billion in 2024 profits.
California is just one place where this battle is playing out. In a meeting with Donald Trump in March, the US’ top oil executives directly appealed to President Trump for federal protection against state level efforts to hold them liable for climate destruction.
Less than two weeks later President Trump issued an executive order directing his Justice Department to “stop the enforcement” of state efforts to hold oil companies accountable. The order explicitly cited New York and Vermont’s polluter pay laws referring to them as “extortion laws”.
Meanwhile the White House is also gutting spending on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency tasked with helping Americans recover from climate disasters.
And just last week, Trump moved to repeal a climate rule which links greenhouse gas emissions to public health harms, a move that could shield the biggest polluters from regulation.
Despite the president’s battles against climate action, local movements for polluter pay style legislation continue. After devastating flooding in Texas, grieving parents and climate advocates gathered in Washington to demand greater protection and accountability.