As California Burns, Secretary Zinke Buries his Head in the Sand
Ignoring science, forestry experts, and common sense, Zinke tells reporters the West’s fires have “nothing to do with climate change”
DENVER—In one of the more tone-deaf episodes of Secretary Zinke’s tenure at the Department of the Interior, he told reporters in California in response to the record-setting fires, “I’ve heard the climate change argument back and forth. This has nothing to do with climate change. This has to do with active forest management.”
This claim runs contrary to forestry experts, firefighters, and scientists who are in agreement that hotter and longer summers are a primary factor contributing to record wildfires experienced in California and across the West in recent years. In response, the Center for Western Priorities issued the following statement from Deputy Director Greg Zimmerman:
“Secretary Zinke is either being willfully ignorant or purposely deceptive. Any politician ignoring the role a warming climate plays in record-setting wildfire seasons loses all credibility as an honest broker. Instead, Zinke is in California using an ongoing natural disaster to push an unpopular political agenda.”
In an op-ed recently published in Huffington Post, Zimmerman explained how a complex problem like wildfire requires a thoughtful, nuanced, and science-backed approach, not more political talking points. He wrote:
“Balancing solutions to mitigate wildfire risk is thorny and complex. Doing so would mean accepting that California, the western U.S. and the globe are becoming hotter. It requires acknowledging that wildfire is natural and healthy for many forests, and that our nation’s century-long practice of putting out even the smallest fires has put forests at risk of wildfire on an unprecedented scale.”
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or [email protected]. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.
Comments
He's talking about the past denial of the common practice of controlled Burns and logging. Perhaps it's you who are being purposefully deceptive.
Will you attack Jerry Brown next? "California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown partnered with state lawmakers to introduce changes to the state’s policies. The bill would grant $1 billion toward forest thinning and ease regulations on cutting trees on private property, according to the LA Times."
Pathetic!!!
Did you mean to ask the people who submitted the press release? (I) can't speak to their positions. Regarding Zinke, he is an easy target simply because he is pro industry, and many of his policies appear to conflict with long term sustainability initiatives. Regarding Gov. Brown, my guess is that WP will be critical of his policy, based primarily on the tree diameter.
You are fake news https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-28/crushing-blame-climate-change-wildfires-narrative-1-simple-chart
Thanks.