Make Polluters Pay

Sierra Club Connecticut supports efforts that hold polluters accountable for their harm and reduce the financial burden of climate damages on Connecticut residents. In Connecticut, the impacts are already clear. As climate-fueled disasters like flooding, extreme heat, and severe storms become more frequent, insurance companies are raising premiums, limiting coverage, or pulling out of high-risk areas altogether, leaving residents and municipalities to pick up the tab. At the same time, fossil fuel companies continue to report record profits while contributing to the very damages driving these costs. Make Polluters Pay is about shifting those costs back where they belong, onto the industries most responsible.

The massive profits of oil and gas corporations have come at a direct cost to our communities and our planet. While disaster recovery efforts around the world struggle to keep up with rising community needs, the fossil fuel industry is raking in record profits, showering shareholders with massive payouts and conducting stock buybacks instead of investing in solutions. Just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.

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Connecticut is Facing Costly Climate Impacts

Below we outline the impacts of climate change Connecticut faces and some of the potential costs associated with these impacts. More can be found in Connecticut Climate Impacts and Costs, a 2026 report from the Center for Climate Integrity.

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• An August 2024 storm produced more than 14 inches of rain in a 24-hour period in Oxford, Connecticut. This storm led to massive damage across Connecticut, including mudslides that washed out roads, stormwater that flooded streets,  and the destruction of 80 businesses and 19 homes. The event caused an estimated $300 million in damages. 

• Extreme precipitation causing flooding has also wreaked havoc on Connecticut’s $4 billion agricultural industry. In just the first two weeks of July 2023, Connecticut was hit with 425% of its normal rainfall for the month. This caused major flooding and damage to farms and crops, leading to $21 million in losses.

• Climate change is intensifying hurricanes and rainfall, while sea level rise amplifies the damage. Hurricane Sandy caused $360 million in damage in Connecticut alone, with studies showing billions in losses worsened by human-caused sea level rise. 

• Despite heavy rains in July 2024, Connecticut saw over 200 brush fires in October and November. One specific fire during that time occurred in Berlin, CT, and required out-of-state crews and helicopter water drops to contain it, costing between $1 million and $5 million.

• Extreme heat is already costing lives and public dollars in Connecticut, driving spikes in ER visits, at least one heat-related death in 2025, and $35 million in school cooling costs affecting nearly 8,000 students.

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Policies to Hold Polluters Accountable

Climate Superfund

A Climate Superfund law holds major polluters accountable for the costs of climate change. Modeled after the federal Superfund program and laws already passed in New York and Vermont the Connecticut Climate Change Superfund Act would require major fossil fuel companies to help pay for climate-related damages and adaptation measures. The law would establish a program to collect funds from the largest polluting corporations, ensuring that those most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions contribute to addressing the crisis they helped create.

At least 40% of these funds would be directed to communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts, including low-income communities and communities of color.

The policy specifically targets the largest global companies with a business presence in Connecticut that are responsible for producing fossil fuels linked to more than one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions between 1995 and 2025. These funds would support projects like repairing roads and bridges damaged by extreme weather, building seawalls and restoring wetlands, upgrading stormwater systems to prevent flooding, and investing in climate-resilient housing and schools. Additional investments could support disaster preparedness measures, such as protecting homes and communities from wildfires and other climate-driven risks.

Momentum for Climate Superfund laws is growing nationwide. Alongside New York and Vermont, more than 15 other states are pursuing similar legislation. 

You can read our 2026 Legislative testimony here. 

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