Fires

As we all observe the catastrophic forest fires that rampage through CA, it appears that the media and virtually every Democratic politician prefer the Climate Change narrative—if only we could stop climate change the fires would abate. And since draconian changes to our transportation, economy, and way of life are required to "stop climate change," we need to implement those changes RIGHT NOW!

There's one question that is never asked of the Dems who push that narrative. Stated simply ... How long would it take to implement these changes, and how long before these changes have an impact on climate, even if we do make them immediately. More importantly, what should we do to prevent catastrophic forest fires RIGHT NOW! 

It is not an overstatement to suggest that these fires are catastrophic—for the environment, for property, and for human lives. Air quality in the Western states is currently the worst in the world.

A response that results in improvements next year—not in 2030 or 2040—is required. And that response has nothing to do with climate change. Longer term ... maybe, but in the moment, over the next 1, 2 or 5 years, more pragmatic and targeted actions are required.

And that leads us to a topic that the Dems and their trained hamsters in the media try to avoid—forest management. For decades, environmentalists in CA have used 'lawfare' to block the management of state and federal forests. Short-term, effective methods for fire control—clearing undergrowth, performing controlled burns, conducting targeted logging in dense forests, cutting fire breaks, and the like. The hard-left CA state legislature has resisted spending money on forest management, and liberal state courts have sided time and again with environmental advocates that care more about protecting owls than reducing the massive amounts of pollutants that are released during catastrophic fires (see chart above).

A meaningful response to catastrophic forest fires is really a question of fantasy vs. reality. The Dems' fantasy is that somehow we can magically implement policies that will change climate and in so doing, eliminate forest fires. There is absolutely no evidence that climate change policies would eliminate drought or reduce temperature to the extent needed to eliminate catastrophic fires. And even if it could, it would take decades to see meaningful results.

The reality is that the only proven effective measure for controlling forest fires is well-planned, well-funded forest management. These measures could be implemented at the end of this fire season and would show meaningful results immediately.

Which approach do you think the Dems and their trained hamsters in the media are pushing?