Published 12:24 IST, September 15th 2020
Trump blames Democrat leaders for California wildfires, dismisses climate change as cause
Donald Trump dismissed climate change as a cause of ferocious fires and claimed that failure to rake forest floors and clear dead timber is mostly to blame.
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Even with raging California wildfires, US President Donald Trump on September 14 dismissed climate change as a cause of ferocious fires and claimed that Democratic state leaders are to blame for failure to rake forest floors and clear dead timber. In a briefing with local officials in California, Trump suggested that global warming will reverse itself and said that ‘it will start getting cooler’.
Trump travelled to Northern California to be briefed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and other state and federal officials. At the briefing, the National Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot urged the President to recognise the changing climate and what it means to the forests. The official added, “If we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think it's all about vegetation management, we're not going to succeed together protecting Californians”.
The US President then responded saying, “It will start getting cooler, just you watch”. Crowfoot then also politely pushed back that he wished the science agreed with the President. Trump then countered saying, “I don’t think science knows, actually”.
‘Climate change is real’
Trump has mostly been quiet about the California wildfires, however, he has appreciated the firefighters and emergency responders. The US President arrived at Sacramento McClellan Airport on Monday and contended anew that Democratic state leaders are to blame for failing to rake leaves and clear dead timber from forest floors. Trump, however, offered no evidence to support his claim, and wildfire experts and forest managers reportedly said that raking leaves make no sense for vast wilderness and forests.
At the briefing, California Governor Gavin Newsom also countered Trump’s claims and said that fires are driven mostly by global warming. Newsom reportedly acknowledged that justice wasn’t done on the forest management, however, he also pointed out that more than half of the land on California is under federal, not state control. Furthermore, he went on to point of the problem and said that the hots are getting hotter, the dries are getting drier. Newsom added that the ‘climate change is real and that is exacerbating this’.
(With inputs from AP)
12:23 IST, September 15th 2020