We know the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires. Some blame government agencies for insufficiently resourcing fire departments. They are approaching the problem from the wrong perspective. Yes, more money should have gone to fire departments because of climate change. But how much money does any one municipality have to spend on “adaptation” or “mitigation” efforts? LA has some of the best fire-fighting apparatuses in the world–with helicopters comparable to military aircraft and pilots with experience in night time combat flying. The Santa Ana winds downed these elite helicopters, and even the most experienced pilots. Without aircraft, firefighters tried to contain fires moving with hurricane force winds by hand. The Santa Ana winds would have overrun the best resourced fire department. When it came to the fires, there was no way to adapt to climate change. People died.
The risks of wildfire are well known to the people of the affected communities. While many people have lost everything through no fault of their own, the environmental movement has been raising alarm bells about building in fire prone areas for decades. Not all, but some of these homes, many of the very rich, should never have been built in the first place. If the municipal fire departments resources are insufficient, they need to not spend them trying to save the homes of people who logically made poor choices–who knew the risk of building in a fire prone area in an era of climate change. Although I feel for the people who have lost everything, this is a man-made, not “natural” disaster. For years, we have known that climate change was coming, we knew it would bring wildfires, and we knew what places would be prone to wildfires. People built anyways.
Rather than being able to adapt, communities like Altedena, and the people who live in them, may die. The winter rains failing and the Santa Ana winds being stronger may become the new normal. Exactly how often can this fire-prone area experience this kind of devastation? Especially when we consider not only the homes lost and the incredible emotional and psychological toll taken, but the disruption of the economy: price gouging, looting, an exacerbation of a housing crisis, the many, mostly immigrant, businesses who relied on these communities as a market for services from house cleaning to lawn care.
And there is the most obvious long term disruption–the insurance market. There seems to be no good way to stabilize the housing insurance market. One way or another, whether through direct payments to their policyholders or an assessment from Cal-fire, insurance companies in California are facing huge financial losses, and are withdrawing from California.
Today, President Trump pulled America out of the Paris Climate Accords. He says it will save $1 trillion dollars. Also today, the National Weather Service again issued its highest alert for fire danger. In the end, we will not be able to adapt to climate change. We will have to live with its destruction. And people will die.
Progressive Without Apology 