This week Sierra Club and Make Polluters Pay released a series of ads targeting Rep. Jeff Hurd and raising awareness in Colorado’s 3rd district about a congressional Republican effort to give fossil fuel corporations immunity from climate damages. The recently introduced “Stop the Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026,” could make it illegal for any lawsuit against fossil fuel companies alleging climate damages to come to fruition. This bill could also immediately invalidate efforts by states like New York and Vermont to utilize recently passed climate superfunds, which aim to raise money to help offset costs incurred from climate-related disasters. “It’s unconscionable that members of Congress would turn their back on their constituents to side with billion dollar oil and gas corporations that are clearly contributing to climate change, an impact they have known about for decades. In a clear example of open oligarchy, the Trump administration is striking again against regular people who are struggling to pay their bills and will only face higher prices as extreme weather wreaks havoc on our economy,” said Margaret Kran-Annexstein, Director of Colorado Sierra Club. “In Colorado, we are enduring record-breaking drought, fires, life-threatening pollution, and extreme heat. Our members of Congress, like Rep. Hurd, need to give a clear answer — will they join Trump by taking unprecedented action to protect the billionaire class, or side with common sense, the rule of law, and their neighbors who are facing costly climate challenges right now?” The effort comes after the Trump administration sued New York and Vermont over their climate superfund programs, and Michigan and Hawai’i over suspicion they were preparing lawsuits against oil and gas corporations. Groups like the American Petroleum Institute are lobbying hard to stop lawsuits against their industry. “Republicans in Congress are trying to do through legislation what the fossil fuel industry hasn’t been able to do in court, which is make these cases go away,” said Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director for the national Make Polluters Pay campaign. “Colorado is in the worst drought in its recorded history. The state is looking at $37 billion in climate damages by 2050. And the response from the industry and their allies on the Hill is to push a bill that attempts to void every pending climate lawsuit in the country and gut the superfund programs New York and Vermont just passed. Seventy-one percent of voters including a majority of Republicans think oil and gas companies should pay their fair share of climate costs. Rep. Hurd should reckon with that before he decides whose side he’s on.” Cities and states across the country are already facing the rising costs of climate disasters, which Bloomberg News estimated cost the US economy over $1 trillion last year. Those costs are passed onto everyday Americans in the form of higher taxes, electricity bills, home insurance rates, and more. A recent study found Colorado conservatively faces $37 billion in climate damages by 2050. Colorado currently faces the worst drought in its recorded history. Since the industrial revolution, the fossil fuel industry has been responsible for a majority of global emissions, with only a handful of corporations contributing the highest percentages. Knowing their business model was destabilizing the planet, companies like Exxon have worked for decades trying to squash climate science and evade responsibility. According to a poll last year by Data for Progress and Fossil Free Media, 71% of voters agree that oil and gas companies should pay their fair share of climate costs and 65% (including a majority of Republicans) oppose efforts to grant the industry immunity. About the Sierra Club The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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