President Donald Trump recently tweeted that “billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen.”
However, it’s important to take note of a 2015 issue of the U.S. Forest Service’s journal, Fire Management Today titled “Climate Change: The Future is Here.” This publication states that “increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation and snowmelt patterns are increasing the severity and size of wildfires in the West.”
Hotter temperatures evaporate soil moisture and dry vegetation, making it more likely to burn. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that, over the last three decades, human-caused climate change has doubled the area affected by forest fires in the Western United States.
Climate change should be a bridge rather than a wedge issue. I’m heartened that the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act was introduced in both the House and Senate during the last session, the first bipartisan climate bill in nearly a decade. This legislation is expected to be reintroduced in the new Congress.
Let’s work together on climate solutions.
