Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
“Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise.” AP News
Many on both sides are critical of local authorities:
“If leadership is that Churchillian combination of confident words and decisive action, Los Angeles has seen neither… When Mayor Karen Bass returned from a previously scheduled trip to Ghana, she held a brief, defensive news conference and told residents they could find emergency resources at ‘URL.’ She had to quiet a public squabble with her fire chief, telling reporters at a joint news conference on Saturday that she and Chief Kristin M. Crowley are in ‘lock step.’…
“In a viral video, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, in aviator sunglasses, looked to me as if he couldn’t wait to get back in his idling S.U.V. as an anguished Angeleno told him her community had been destroyed and implored him for help. He did make time to do a lengthy interview with ‘Pod Save America,’ in which he defended his record and response to the crisis, explaining that he ‘wasn’t getting straight answers’ from local officials. How about we Pod Save Los Angeles first?”
Amy Chozick, New York Times
“With the forecast showing 100 mph Santa Ana winds, only three tankers of water were available there to keep the hydrants flowing. Gov. Gavin Newsom refused to take responsibility, blaming the ‘local folks.’ Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, despite the warnings, chose to spend her time in Ghana. She’s been trumpeting a reparations commission as she cuts the fire department’s budget…
“California has the highest top income-tax bracket in the country, 13.3%. That’s just state taxes, on top of federal. It has the highest state sales tax in the nation, 7.25%. California brought in $17 billion more in tax revenue than it expected last year. It has a budget surplus of $363 million. They are swimming in money… Surveying the cinders of their homes, California residents will rightly wonder: Where did all that money go?”
Editorial Board, New York Post
Other opinions below.
“Right-wing pundits and commentators have come up with a number of different reasons at the root of the wildfires, from attacking California Democrats for their ‘far-left policies’ to making the racist claim that ‘DEI’ was a major cause. In reality, while better prevention measures could have been taken, Musk, Donald Trump, and other conservative personalities are using the disaster to score political points without offering much help.”
Hafiz Rashid, New Republic
“[Trump] couldn’t even wait for the flames to die down before launching into his greatest hits about California water management. He’s claiming Governor Gavin Newsom ‘refused to sign the water restoration declaration’ that would have prevented this disaster. One small problem: This declaration doesn’t exist. It’s completely made up…
“Here’s what’s actually happening: Hurricane-force Santa Ana winds combined with unusually dry conditions (hello, climate change) to spread small fires at unprecedented speed. Yes, some fire hydrants failed—not because of some conspiracy about water management—but because the system was overwhelmed by simultaneous massive demands for water.”
Parker Molloy, New Republic
“Fast-growing fires are now the norm. Using NASA satellite data, we studied more than 60,000 fires in the United States over nearly two decades. During that time, we saw a 250 percent increase in the average growth rate of fires in the United States. In California, we saw a 400 percent increase in how fast fires grew…
“Nature long ago adapted to fire: Long-living Ponderosa pine trees survive in part because their deeply creased bark dissipates the heat. Grasses have substantial underground roots that provide energy for them to resprout. Homes can be made to do the same… By the time a fast fire ignites, it is too late.”
Jennifer Balch and Ralph Bloemers, Washington Post
“Instead of taking responsibility for their failure to act, California’s leaders have repeatedly tried to shift the blame to climate change. But while the climate may play a role in exacerbating dry conditions, these fires are fueled by human negligence, not an inevitable force of nature. Poor forest management practices in California have resulted in dense, overcrowded forests that are essentially tinderboxes…
“A single spark in these unmanaged areas can unleash devastation, yet simple solutions such as clearing debris, thinning overgrowth, and prescribed burns are ignored — not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of political will…
“Even worse, mainstream environmentalists wholeheartedly endorse this approach and resort to litigation when active forest management practices are proposed. They tie up land management agencies in endless lawsuits, weaponizing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other laws. According to a study on NEPA litigation, nearly 50 percent of public land challenges were based on forest management practices. As a result, the Forest Service spends more time in courtrooms than in the forests.”
Danielle B. Franz, National Review
“The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in 2019 sought to widen a fire-access road and replace old wooden utility poles in the Topanga Canyon abutting the Palisades with steel ones to make power lines fire- and wind-resistant. In the process, crews removed an estimated 182 Braunton’s milkvetch plants, an endangered species…
“The utility halted the project as state officials investigated the plant destruction. More than a year later, the California Coastal Commission issued a cease-and-desist order, fined the utility $2 million, and required ‘mitigation’ for the project’s impact on the species… Will the fires prompt Mr. Newsom and company to rethink their delusions?”
Allysia Finley, Wall Street Journal
