California Democrats are attempting to make state oil and gas companies pay for damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires, claiming that fossil fuel emissions are to blame for the deadly disaster.
A new Democrat-introduced bill, the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act, if passed, would allow for "victims of climate disasters," such as the L.A. fires, and insurance groups to sue oil and gas companies for damages under the claim that their emissions fueled the raging fires.
Democrat state Sen. Scott Wiener, who introduced the bill this week, said that fossil fuel companies should pay for fire damage, because they are "driving the climate crisis."
"Californians shouldn’t be the only ones to pay the costs of devastating climate disasters. From last year’s floods to the fires in LA, we know that the fossil fuel industry bears ultimate responsibility for fueling these disasters," state Sen. Scott Wiener wrote in a post on X announcing the legislation.
The bill, which received the backing of several state lawmakers, comes as Democrats have attempted to blame the recent fires on climate change rather than state and city policies, which have faced heightened criticism in the weeks following the deadly blaze.
Just months before the wildfire, the city of Los Angeles slashed the fire department funding by over $17 million. The L.A. fire chief said that there are "not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude."
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"We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish. Our fire department budget was cut by our mayor. But thank god drug addicts are getting their drug kits," actress Sara Foster wrote in a post on X. "@MayorOfLA @GavinNewsom RESIGN. Your far-left policies have ruined our state. And also our party."
Trump used the power of his pen this week to sign an executive order to override the state's environmental policies in order to create more water availability in the L.A. area.
In the executive order issued on Sunday, Trump called on federal agencies to override regulations potentially limiting water availability in the area, such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which seeks to minimize water infrastructure to protect certain fish species, such as the Delta smelt.
The order comes just weeks after Trump accused Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., of caring more about protecting an endangered fish species than the state's residents amid the wildfires.
Environmental groups appear to be breaking with the Democratic Party after protesters disrupted a recent leadership meeting, which comes as the party attempts to regain its footing after suffering defeat in the 2024 presidential election.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) held a candidate forum on Thursday evening in Washington, D.C., ahead of their upcoming election to determine who will lead the campaign arm into the next election cycle.
While the event was intended to showcase some of the party's potential new faces, it was interrupted by several protesters, including climate activists from the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led, left-wing climate action organization, who demanded the DNC establish a working election strategy for the party after the 2024 loss.
"What will you do to get fossil fuel money out of Democratic politics? We are facing a climate emergency!" Fox News Digital heard one protester shout.
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Other protesters made calls for the DNC chair candidates to bring back the party's ban on corporate PAC and lobbyist donations.
"To defeat Trump, the Democratic Party needs to loudly and proudly take a stand against billionaires and show voters that Democrats are the only party ready to fight for working people," Adah, an activist from the Sunrise Movement who made an interruption, said in a statement issued by Sunrise.
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"That’s how we will win back young voters and working class voters and defeat Trump," Adah added.
About a dozen protesters interrupted and were kicked out of the event — the final meeting ahead of Saturday's DNC election.
The Democratic candidates and moderates grew frustrated with the protesters who were interrupting the event.
Jason Paul, a candidate running for DNC chair, said the protesters were "hijack[ing] the whole evening" and turning the event "into scream night."
"I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of it," former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley told reporters after the event. "They’re going to be on this planet a lot longer than I am, and if they stop caring passionately about the planet, then we have no hope at all. So it didn’t bother me."
Eight candidates are running to serve as chair of the DNC next cycle, including O'Malley, Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler, Minnesota chair Ken Martin, and former two-time Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.
The DNC chair election will be held Saturday.
Highly combustible lithium-ion batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles are complicating cleanup efforts in the Los Angeles neighborhoods ravaged by wildfire damage.
Phase 1 of the federal cleanup is underway, as surveyors with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work to remove and dispose of hazardous materials, including lithium-ion batteries found in charred vehicles and decimated homes. The EPA warned that batteries should be considered "extremely dangerous," even if they are believed to be intact, and "can spontaneously re-ignite, explode, and emit toxic gases and particulates even after the fire is out."
The Palisades and Eaton fires aftermath is estimated to require the "largest lithium-ion battery pickup, cleanup, that’s ever happened in the history of the world," EPA incident commander Steve Calanog reportedly told local KNBC. He explained that removing lithium-ion batteries – even those that do not appear damaged – from fire wreckage requires "technical sophistication and care," as hazardous material crews find and deionize the batteries so they can be crushed or safely shipped for disposal.
"We don’t know the long-term effects of all this exposure, and we haven't seen this on this large of a scale and this many electric vehicles," Los Angeles City Fire Capt. Adam VanGerpen told KNBC. "This is an unprecedented amount of electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries in there."
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According to the California Energy Commission, more than 99,000 zero-emission vehicles were sold in Los Angeles County in 2024 alone, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles.
The Tesla models Y, 3 and Cybertruck were the top three selling zero-emission models sold in Los Angeles County last year, according to the commission's online tally.
Authorities are warning that residual heat poses danger for days, weeks and even months after the initial fires, potentially causing lithium-ion batteries to spontaneously combust.
"With the lithium-ion batteries, even if they look like they are intact they could have damage on the inside, so they continue to off gas and the off-gas from these batteries can be toxic to your health," VanGerpen said.
Besides in electric and hybrid vehicles, lithium-ion batteries can be found in personal electronics, vaping devices, power tools, and home energy storage systems, which have become increasingly popular during California's power outages.
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President Donald Trump toured the Palisades Fire burn area on Friday. His executive order issued that same day to provide water resources in California and improve disaster response will allow the EPA "to complete its hazardous materials mission responding to the Los Angeles, California Wildfires as soon as practical," the EPA said in a statement on Monday. "EPA’s work removing hazardous materials is Phase 1 of the federal cleanup response."
"According to the EPA incident commander, there will be upward of 1,000 people working on Phase 1 cleanup by this weekend," the statement continued. "This work, conducted at no cost to residents, is a mandatory process to ensure the safety of residents and the workers who will – after the hazardous material is gone – conduct the Phase 2 debris removal in the burn footprints, and to prevent these materials from being released into the environment."
Phase 2, which begins automatically once Phase 1 is complete, will involve debris removal and will be coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
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"Under President Trump’s leadership, EPA is doing everything within our power to expedite cleanup of hazardous debris and to help provide Californians safer access to their property as soon as possible," EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Chad McIntosh said in a statement. "With President Trump’s Executive Order, he has authorized a whole of government response to the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles – an effort that has never been seen before. EPA is working with local, state and federal partners in addition to the private sector to aid in California’s recovery."
The Senate voted Wednesday by a 78–20 margin to advance President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department — former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — for a final confirmation vote.
Burgum appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in mid-January, where he told lawmakers that national security issues and the economy were his two top priorities for leading the agency.
"When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn't reduce demand," Burgum said in his opening statement Jan. 16. "It just shifts production to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders not only don't care at all about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies."
Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, questioned Burgum on whether he would seek to drill for oil in national parks if Trump asked him to.
"As part of my sworn duty, I'll follow the law and follow the Constitution. And so you can count on that," Burgum said. "And I have not heard of anything about President Trump wanting to do anything other than advancing energy production for the benefit of the American people."
Additionally, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., questioned whether Burgum backed repealing credits for electric vehicles that may be in jeopardy under the Trump administration.
"I support economics and markets," Burgum said.
Burgum served as governor of North Dakota from 2016 to 2024. He also launched a presidential bid for the 2024 election in June 2023, where energy and natural resources served as key issues during his campaign.
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Burgum appeared during the first two Republican presidential debates, but didn’t qualify for the third and ended his campaign in December 2023. He then endorsed Trump for the GOP nomination a month later ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Aubrie Spady, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
The global climate movement is already feeling the sting of the "Trump effect" after green energy policies were a target of President Donald Trump's first executive orders, according to energy experts who reacted to the president's first week in office.
Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States Monday, signing numerous executive orders aimed at unraveling former President Joe Biden's climate agenda.
"President Trump has not wasted any time to undo Biden’s many climate policies designed to make energy more expensive and less affordable. America and the world can look forward to a brighter future because of the actions that President Trump has started on his first day in office," Myron Ebell, chairman of the American Lands Council, said in a statement.
But Ebell added that "it’s going to be a long, hard fight because of ferocious opposition" from climate groups.
This week, Trump signed an executive order to ax the U.S. climate standards, which aimed to reduce emissions 61-66% by 2035.
Additionally, the president ended the electric vehicle (EV) mandate and withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, a legally binding treaty among more than 190 parties committed to international cooperation on climate change.
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"President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accords is a victory for American workers and families, rejecting policies that prioritize the Chinese Communist Party’s interests over our own," said Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute and a former Texas state representative.
"The Paris framework does nothing to mitigate a changing climate but drives up energy costs and burdens Americans with decarbonization mandates rooted in the climate hoax. By making American energy more affordable and accessible, President Trump is benefiting not only our nation but the world."
Marc Morano, publisher of Climate Depot, a communication platform for climate issues designed by the Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, a D.C.-based public policy group, said that Trump's second term "could become one of our lifetimes' most consequential presidencies."
"Trump is poised to, once and for all, put a stake through the heart of the U.N. globalist climate change scam," Morano said in a statement shared with Fox. "The Trump effect is already derailing the U.N. climate summits, canceling EV mandates, disintegrating the Wall Street climate group and Net Zero goals. Trump's policies could have the effect of collapsing the entire climate house of cards."
Trump's executive orders were not accepted by many Democratic lawmakers and climate groups, who criticized the president's executive orders.
"It’s the second day of the second Trump presidency, and there are three things we know for sure: there is no energy emergency; there is a climate emergency; and the policies rolled out in these past 24 hours will make the climate crisis worse," said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress plan on going even deeper on reversing green energy policies enacted over the past four years. Republicans in the House have already introduced legislation to block Biden's climate standards on household appliances.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency after touring the devastation of the Los Angeles fires with residents who were personally impacted by the disastrous event.
Trump traveled to Southern California on Friday to survey the damage from the recent wildfires that destroyed over 10,000 structures in the Los Angeles area and tragically took the lives of nearly 30 people.
Trump took an aerial tour of the area before his landing, with images showing the once ritzy neighborhood in ashes.
The president and first lady Melania Trump then experienced the damage up close, meeting with local law enforcement and members of the community for a tour of the destroyed Pacific Palisades neighborhoods.
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"Not even believable," Trump told reporters on site.
Trump sat down for a roundtable with LA Mayor Karen Bass and other state officials. When the president entered the room, individuals were heard chanting "USA, USA, USA!" Bass greeted the president and said that his presence was welcomed.
"This is an honor to be with you," during the meeting, saying that homeowners told him that they want to rebuild their homes in the area.
At one point, the president criticized Bass for not using her emergency powers to respond to the wildfires.
"You have emergency powers just like I do … you have to exercise them also," Trump told Bass, who responded that she did exercise them.
Trump said he would sign an executive order to open up the water valves in the area.
"I don't think you can realize how rough, how devastating it is until you see it," Trump said of the wildfire damage. "The federal government is standing behind you, 100%."
Trump said that he is going to waive federal permits for rebuilding in the area. "I'm gonna be the president to help you fix it," he said. "We're going to waive all federal permits... Because a federal permit can take 10 years... we don't want to take 10 days."
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After the fires broke out, Trump blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic city policies for the damage, citing their forest and water management policies.
Newsom was waiting for Trump on the tarmac when he exited Air Force One and was seen shaking hands with the president in their first face-to-face encounter since the inauguration.
"Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us," Newsom told Trump after they met on the tarmac of LAX in Los Angeles just after 3 p.m. local time. "We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help."
Speaking about his meeting with Newsom, Trump said that "we had a good talk, a very positive talk."
Trump traveled to North Carolina to tour the hurricane damage, before heading to California for his first visit to the state since becoming president.
The premier of a key oil region in Canada is open to talking with President Donald Trump about reopening the Keystone Pipeline, which, according to experts, could strengthen energy security and affordability.
Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, Canada, said on Tuesday that she was interested in talking to the Trump administration about potentially reopening the Keystone XL oil pipeline – a system that was designed to carry oil from Alberta to the U.S. through to states like Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma.
The pipeline has been at the forefront of political debate since the project began construction in 2010, and was eventually halted by former President Barack Obama before it was finished. Trump revived it during his first term, but in 2021, former President Joe Biden again blocked the project.
Trump could resume construction during his second term, and do so with the help of Smith, who said that she wants to have conversations about potential cross-border pipelines, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
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"What I would propose is—are there ways that we can look at increasing pipeline access, perhaps some new routes or perhaps some new proposals on existing routes?" Smith told the outlet. "So, whether it's a Keystone 2.0 or something else, I'm looking forward to starting those conversations in earnest once the interior secretary is sworn in." Trump tapped Gov. Doug Burgum, R-N.D., to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior, but he has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.
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The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. However, this week, Trump rescinded Biden's executive order that canceled the pipeline's permits, a move that could reopen potential construction of the oil system.
"Restarting the Keystone XL pipeline aligns with President Trump’s agenda to lower food and energy costs by bolstering North American energy infrastructure and reducing reliance on costly imports," Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute (AEI), told Fox News Digital.
"The pipeline’s ability to transport heavy sour crude, rich in sulfur, will support the production of affordable fertilizers, a critical input for agriculture, ultimately lowering food-production costs," Isaac said. "Additionally, the increased supply of crude oil will stabilize fuel prices, reducing transportation and energy costs that significantly impact food prices. This project strengthens energy security, fosters economic growth, and directly contributes to making energy and food more affordable for American families."
Another expert said that Trump will likely face litigation if he chooses to proceed with construction of the pipeline, but that Congress could help limit legal action.
"The Trump administration will, no doubt, provide the needed permits for completing the Keystone XL, but litigation is sure to occur," Steve Milloy, a senior fellow at the Energy & Environmental Legal Institute and former Trump EPA transition team member, told Fox News Digital. "The trick will be to limit the litigation so that investors don’t get scared off. Congress could aid the process by ordering the pipeline completed and limiting the litigation."
In December 2022, the Biden administration's Department of Energy (DOE) published a report that said the Keystone XL project would have created between 16,149 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.4 and 9.6 billion, citing various studies.
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