As wildfires continue to ravage both Northern and Southern California, President Donald Trump is in Paris to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. However, being on another continent did not stop the president from addressing…
As wildfires continue to ravage both Northern and Southern California, President Donald Trump is in Paris to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. However, being on another continent did not stop the president from addressing the wildfires; on Saturday, Trump blamed the California wildfires on « poor » forest management, and threatened to revoke federal aid to the state.
» There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor, » Trump tweeted on Saturday. « Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments! »
As the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, Trump’s response to the California wildfires did not mention the at least nine people who have been killed or the thousands of people whose houses have been destroyed. Trump’s comments about forest management are also inaccurate, the Los Angeles Times reported, as the Woolsey Fire currently making its way around Southern California did not actually start in a forest. Nor did the Camp Fire, which devastated the Northern California town of Paradise earlier this week.
Experts told the Los Angeles Times that thinning forests would therefore not have stopped the Woolsey or Camp Fires. The Camp Fire was able to travel rapidly over dry grass, while the Woolsey Fire was an « urban interface » fire, per the Pasadena Fire Association.
More to come…
