A recent column by Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel to the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, takes issue with the idea that oil and gas companies should pay any of the costs associated with climate change. Mr. Goldberg hates the thought of holding these companies accountable for their actions, even though they have contributed the lion’s share of greenhouse gases that cause climate change and knew for decades that it was going to have catastrophic effects.

Meanwhile, consumers and businesses are already paying for the costs of climate change. Taxpayers across the country, including in Massachusetts, pay tens of billions every year in damages from hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and flooding made more destructive by climate change.

Just like the tobacco executives before them, oil and gas CEOs decided to pour their efforts into misinformation campaigns about the science of climate change instead of addressing the harm their product was causing. One way or another, these companies should help clean up the mess they gladly helped to create.