Thought Piece
Budget Surpluses and Fire in California: Governor Jerry Brown continues to declare that all of this year’s forest fires (including “Camp Fire,” “Woolsey Fire ,” “Hill Fire,” and “Rocky Peak Fire”) have been caused by climate change. In fact, the WSJ points out the State Of California has MISSPENT 10 times more on electric vehicles than on controlled forest fires and underbrush removal, $335 million to $30 million, in the last fiscal year.
Then, there is the matter of spending billions of dollars annually on the bullet train that is expected to cost north of $100 Billion. Frankly, the plethora of forest fires this year have likely put as much pollution into the air as has been reduced through emission reduction strategies in 2018. While the State has a $9 billion surplus, they spent only $30 million on their forests.
Finally, a February report by the Little Hoover Commission, the State Oversight Committee for the State of California, found that CA has “ignored the gathering underbrush and dead trees in their forests for 100 years.” Current forest fires probably nullified California’s “hard-fought carbon reductions.”
One can only wonder what would have happened if California had spent as much money on forest management as they spent electric vehicles?
