Opponents of the bill argued it would have threatened business and investments in the state, driven up insurance costs and lead to a reduction in revenue and jobs in the state. (Credit: chase4concept/Shutterstock)

A first-of-its-kind bill introduced to the California State Senate by Senator Scott Wiener that would allow civil suits from insurers and customers against oil and gas companies was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It received only five of the seven votes needed to pass out of committee, with seven committee members either voting against the measure or choosing to abstain.

The bill proposal read, in part: “This bill would authorize a person to bring a civil action, if specified criteria are met, including damages of $10,000 or more, against a party responsible for a climate disaster or extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change due to the responsible party’s misleading and deceptive practices or the provision of misinformation or disinformation about the connection between its fossil fuel products and climate change and extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change.”

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Brittney Meredith-Miller

Brittney Meredith-Miller is assistant editor of PropertyCasualty360.com. She can be reached at [email protected].