Make Polluters Pay event group photo
This legislative session, Sen. Linda L. Ujifusa and Rep. Jennifer Boylan reintroduced the Climate Superfund Act of 2026 (S2024/H7004). If passed, this bill would require major fossil fuel companies to help Rhode Island adapt to the climate crisis they knowingly caused.
For too long, fossil fuel companies have known that burning their product causes climate change, yet they continue to profit while our communities pay the price. Right now, taxpayers and local governments are burdened with paying for the consequences of climate change — including ever-worsening flood damage, coastal erosion, extreme heat, and infrastructure repair. This Act would hold large polluters financially accountable based on their carbon emissions over the past three decades.
Our communities are already paying the mounting costs of climate damages while the fossil fuel industry continues to rake in massive profits. With over 400 miles of coastline and countless islands, Rhode Island is especially vulnerable to climate impacts. Climate change does not affect everyone equally — harms fall disproportionately on seniors, low-income, and minority communities. Since 1980, Rhode Island has experienced 33 separate climate disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion.
By shifting the costs of climate-related damages away from consumers and onto the large polluting companies that can afford to pay, we are putting money back into the pockets of Rhode Islanders — giving them more opportunity to shop at our stores, eat at our restaurants, and support local services.
In 2024, Vermont and New York became the first states to pass climate superfund laws. Rhode Island is one of 7 states this year that have already advanced climate superfund bills. By making polluters pay their fair share, we are investing in making our communities livable and safe for generations to come.
Senator Linda Ujifusa and Representative Jennifer Boylan
Make Polluters Pay Week — Event Recap
As part of the national Make Polluters Pay Week of action we co-hosted a fun, informative, and action-oriented event to launch public support for the Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act of 2026. Welcoming remarks were delivered by Dr. Timmons Roberts (Ittleson Professor of Environment and Society at Brown University and the Executive Director of the Climate Social Science Network) and Aaron Regenberg (director of Public Citizen’s Climate Accountability Project), who framed the urgency of climate accountability and the growing national movement to make polluters pay. Rep. Jennifer Boylan then presented on the bill and took audience questions, clearly walking through how the Act would work and what it would mean for Rhode Island communities.
We were grateful for support from the national Make Polluters Pay coalition, which provided participants with t-shirts, signs, and stickers to carry the message beyond the event.
If you missed it, you can watch the full recording on Capitol TV here:
https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv/show/11712
Co-sponsors of the event include Citizens Climate Lobby RI, Environment Council of Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Student Climate Coalition. Make Polluters Pay week sponsors include Fossil Free Media, Climate Defenders, and Food & Water Watch.
Voices from the Event
Rep. Jennifer Boylan D-66: “This is not just a climate issue, its a fairness issue. We’ve been here before, when tobacco companies learned that their products caused cancer, they didn’t accept responsibility. They funded doubt, attacked scientists, and delayed accountability for as long as possible. That strategy worked for a while, but it did not work forever. Courts ultimately held tobacco companies accountable because the evidence showed that they knew about the harm and misled the public. The same principles apply here. Rhode Islanders didn’t make the decision that caused this damage, but we are paying for it.”
Dr. Timmons Roberts, Ittleson Professor of Environment and Society at Brown University and the Executive Director of the Climate Social Science Network: “These [fossil fuel] firms knew what they were doing. They purposely obscured the science. They attacked the scientists and the activists; they attacked the journalists; they attacked the politicians that put forward this kind of legislation.”
Aaron Regenberg, Director of Public Citizen’s Climate Accountability Project: “These companies have taken in literally trillions of dollars making this mess, and when we say mess…we’re talking about oceans swallowing homes, inland flooding wiping businesses of the map, entire economic sectors like the lobster industry gone, lethal heatwaves, horrific droughts…these are all messes that big oil predicted, that big oil caused and profited from causing, and yet these are all messes that, as of now, we all are being forced to pay for.”
This event was just the start. As the Climate Superfund Act moves forward, we will continue building momentum, educating the public, and preparing supporters to show up when it matters most.
What you can do now
Sign the petition — add your name to support the Climate Superfund Act.
Print and post this educational poster — share it in your community (includes QR code to the petition).
Learn more — dive deeper with these resources.