P. Coonan
2023-08-21 00:17:34 UTC
President Joe Biden cant be bothered to disrupt his beach vacation to
even comment on, let alone visit, the most deadly wildfires in over 100
years, but that didnt stop other Democrats from blaming the carnage in
Maui on climate change.
"Heartbreaking fires in Hawaii! Scientists are clear that climate chaos
wreaking havoc on ecosystems everywhere is the new norm," Sen. Jeff
Merkley (D-OR) posted. "We need to take action immediately or else it will
get even worse."
"The wildfires raging across Hawaii are a devastating view of our planet
as we fail to adequately address the climate crisis," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-
IL) added. And, of course, Hawaiis own Mazie Hirono had to join in, I
think that we very much need to acknowledge that climate change is upon
us.
Problem is, climate change isnt to blame for the fires that destroyed the
town of Lahaina. Failure to adequately manage invasive species is. And by
trying to exploit this tragedy to push their climate change agenda,
Democrats are making it harder to get the policy changes needed to
actually reduce the chances that a tragedy like this will happen again.
For decades, Hawaii was dominated by large plantations of sugar cane and
pineapple. As global trade made those enterprises less profitable, land
that had once been cleared for agriculture has now been overtaken by
foreign species of grass that grow fast, suck up a lot of water, and are
much more flammable than native species.
"Hawai'i's fire problem is due to the vast areas of unmanaged, nonnative
grasslands from decades of declining agriculture, University of Hawaii at
Manoa professor Clay Trauernicht said. "These savannas now cover about a
million acres across the main Hawaiian Islands, mostly the legacy of land
clearing for plantation agriculture and ranching in the late 1800s/early
1900s.
A 2014 report found that the average area burned in Hawaii today was 400%
higher than just 100 years ago, with more and more being burned every
decade. After large brush fires destroyed many homes in 2018 and 2019, a
Maui County report recommended an aggressive plan to replace flammable
nonnative grass species, but it does not appear that recommendation was
carried out.
The Democrats' continued focus on climate policy over proper land
management is not just a threat to Hawaii, but to the mainland too. The
U.S. Forest Service has a backlog of more than 80 million acres of land
that is filled with dead and dying diseased trees that should have been
harvested years ago. The Bureau of Land Management has another 50 million
acres in need of upkeep.
For thousands of years Native Americans used fires to shape wildlife for
their own purposes. Only after Europeans settled the West did nature
become a sacred resource that had to be kept pristine. If humans dont
actively manage the vegetation that grows near our communities, nature
eventually will. But it will be done in a much more fiery and destructive
manner than if we had done it ourselves.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/democrats-climate-
distraction-wont-stop-hawaii-wildfires
even comment on, let alone visit, the most deadly wildfires in over 100
years, but that didnt stop other Democrats from blaming the carnage in
Maui on climate change.
"Heartbreaking fires in Hawaii! Scientists are clear that climate chaos
wreaking havoc on ecosystems everywhere is the new norm," Sen. Jeff
Merkley (D-OR) posted. "We need to take action immediately or else it will
get even worse."
"The wildfires raging across Hawaii are a devastating view of our planet
as we fail to adequately address the climate crisis," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-
IL) added. And, of course, Hawaiis own Mazie Hirono had to join in, I
think that we very much need to acknowledge that climate change is upon
us.
Problem is, climate change isnt to blame for the fires that destroyed the
town of Lahaina. Failure to adequately manage invasive species is. And by
trying to exploit this tragedy to push their climate change agenda,
Democrats are making it harder to get the policy changes needed to
actually reduce the chances that a tragedy like this will happen again.
For decades, Hawaii was dominated by large plantations of sugar cane and
pineapple. As global trade made those enterprises less profitable, land
that had once been cleared for agriculture has now been overtaken by
foreign species of grass that grow fast, suck up a lot of water, and are
much more flammable than native species.
"Hawai'i's fire problem is due to the vast areas of unmanaged, nonnative
grasslands from decades of declining agriculture, University of Hawaii at
Manoa professor Clay Trauernicht said. "These savannas now cover about a
million acres across the main Hawaiian Islands, mostly the legacy of land
clearing for plantation agriculture and ranching in the late 1800s/early
1900s.
A 2014 report found that the average area burned in Hawaii today was 400%
higher than just 100 years ago, with more and more being burned every
decade. After large brush fires destroyed many homes in 2018 and 2019, a
Maui County report recommended an aggressive plan to replace flammable
nonnative grass species, but it does not appear that recommendation was
carried out.
The Democrats' continued focus on climate policy over proper land
management is not just a threat to Hawaii, but to the mainland too. The
U.S. Forest Service has a backlog of more than 80 million acres of land
that is filled with dead and dying diseased trees that should have been
harvested years ago. The Bureau of Land Management has another 50 million
acres in need of upkeep.
For thousands of years Native Americans used fires to shape wildlife for
their own purposes. Only after Europeans settled the West did nature
become a sacred resource that had to be kept pristine. If humans dont
actively manage the vegetation that grows near our communities, nature
eventually will. But it will be done in a much more fiery and destructive
manner than if we had done it ourselves.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/democrats-climate-
distraction-wont-stop-hawaii-wildfires