And now comes the last two stages of an avoidable political catastrophe: the “search for the guilty parties” and “the reward of non-contributors.” (Adopted from the six stages of an engineering project – it’s on the web.)
We don’t know how the fires started. It could have been lightning: it’s been dry in California lately. Could have been accidental: a campfire not properly extinguished before the campers went home. Could have been intentional: rumors of an arsonist (or arsonists) have spread, and at least one person has been arrested.
But, as Ms. Clinton once noted, “What difference, at this point, does it make?” Huge areas of LA and thousands of structures have been destroyed. Homes, museums, and irreplaceable works of art have met their fiery end. Tens of thousands of people are now homeless, with very little hope of being able to rebuild.
Why was there no water? There have been warnings about the need for more California reservoirs for decades, but those warnings were ignored. Bills were passed promising to build new reservoirs and expand current ones, but there was always a “more pressing need” – usually from environmentalists and social “scientists” – so the needed reservoirs were never built. “It’ll be fine”, they said.
There were warnings about the need to clear out brush and use “controlled burns” to get rid of flammable undergrowth, but once again, there were those who fought against it for various unscientific and “social policy” reasons. “Feel good” politics overwhelmed those who understood the problems and had uncomfortable answers. “They just want to attack our politicians for no good reason,” they said.
Politicians have been complaining about “global warming” (now called “climate change”) for decades. They blamed oil companies, cars, power plants, and even cows. They blamed politicians who didn’t overturn capitalism in order to institute a socialist tyranny that was supposed to “protect the planet”. They called it the most serious problem of our time. “Not even nuclear war is as devastating as climate change,” they claimed.
They demanded an end to internal combustion vehicles in favor of electric cars and raped the planet to get the lithium, cobalt, and other minerals required for their construction. They did nothing to increase the amount of electrical “base load” needed to charge all those vehicles but instead suggested charging them at night. They ignored the carbon costs of creating solar panels and windmill blades and how to process them as waste when they wore out or were broken due to natural means. “The technology is coming,” they said.
Lately, they’ve been using salt water to extinguish flames in the LA Basin. The saltwater may help extinguish flames, but it will also “salt the earth” and limit new vegetation from growing. In the almost hopeless search for a way out of the situation they find themselves in, they’re grasping at straws and causing yet more destruction.
But remember: we need to “save the planet.”
I have a modest suggestion. Bulldoze the areas of LA that burned and use those areas for new reservoirs, parks, forests, and other CO2 “sinks.” Start saving all the freshwater runoff when it rains into those new reservoirs so the remaining residents have water for the next wildfire season – because, in California, there’s always a “next wildfire season.”
There are still areas in California that haven’t been destroyed by fire. It’s not too late to take the proper steps to protect those areas: controlled burns to get rid of undergrowth, modernizing the power grid, creating reservoirs to catch rain runoff, and allow building homes with both modern and traditional power sources (meaning both electricity and natural gas).
For those who have lost homes, property, and possessions, I apologize for being blunt but it’s over. I wish there were another way to say this, but there isn’t enough money, time, or political will to fully restore the areas devastated by fire.
It is time for the the voters of California to open their eyes and take a good hard look at their political leadership, deeply examine the politicians who have been running California, and to remember at the next election (paraphrasing) “insanity is voting for the same people over and over again and expecting different results.”
