SAN DIEGO — It's the start of Climate Week and leaders from around the world are meeting in New York City. Governor Gavin Newsom was there and announced plans to sign climate-focused bills to hold big corporations accountable.
The impact of climate change is all around us. This year a tropical storm made landfall in San Diego bringing record-breaking rainfall. California has experienced more intensified heatwaves and wildfires in recent years.
"The issue is fossil fuels and the issue is deceit from these companies," Newsom said.
Newsom announced he would sign a major bill requiring large companies to be more transparent about emitting green house gas. Under this law businesses in California that make more than $1 billion per year will have to disclose their emissions.
"For California that's over 5,300 businesses so its not insignificant and of course they're multinational and some of the most well known in the world," he said.
A second bill focuses on companies that make more than $500 million a year. The companies would have to report what financial risks climate change caused their business and how they'll address it. This week the governor's office also announced a lawsuit against some of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world.
"It's incalculable in terms of the dollars, the lives lost, the funerals, the dead bodies in Paradise, California. People whose lives who have been cut short because of health risks and health related risks, the smoke they're sucking into their lungs," he said.
The lawsuit claims they deceived the public about how fossil fuels impact the climate. It points blame at these companies for causing climate change that has led to billions of dollars in damage.
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