Like the tremendous devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the California wildfires are the product not just of nature's wrath, but of decades of accumulating, short-sighted decision-making by human beings.
America has always been about the freedom and danger of the frontier. There may no longer be a western frontier, but today's developers and homeowners are determined to recreate their own Disneyfied version of it wherever they can. That new frontier is along the beach, or stretching up into the mountains, or California's "suburban/wildland interface" where the fires are jumping from forests into subdivisions. Development of all kinds in these risky areas has exploded over the last generation, often subsidized, directly or indirectly, by governments.
Even absent the hard-to-predict local effects of global warming, this is just asking for trouble. Building in hurricane alley, a floodplain, or a wildfire zone is a double roll of the dice -- you bet that you won't get hit, and that the federal government and insurance companies will swoop in, rescue you and ultimately bail you out if you do. There are many places that look prosperous and peaceful, but are actually poised uncomfortably on this brink. Inevitably, some get pushed over. The result is more mega-disasters, with their searing images, loss of life and property, and mushrooming fiscal and economic impacts.
Obviously, nature is wrathful and unpredictable -- and with global climate change, getting more so. Yet Americans have an annoying habit of ignoring the potential for disaster until ... after disaster strikes.
What's the solution? One challenge is, this is a collective problem -- no one individual, agency, or lobby is to blame for it. It's everybody's problem, and nobody's. Global warming is part of it, but let's face it, carbon offsets and other big, long-term policy fixes won't do much to address this problem, which is fundamentally an issue of social and economic policy -- and which is after all, happening right now.
To solve it, you need political leadership. Economic incentives that encourage the courtship of risk have to change. Governments need to junk their old paradigms and reach over and around bureaucratic walls. Nobody thinks of Katrina and the wildfires as the same phenomenon -- yet they are.
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For example we humans can actually be thankful for a catagory 5 hurricane when it occures for the really quit simple reason it being nature's temperatur
Though thankful most are not and there are even scientists who propose controling or distroying hurricanes
Natures hurricane for example is a small extreme balancing a larger extreme.
The vastness and complexety of earth is far far beyond humans to even begin any foolish attempts to control. To attempt such is just rediculiou
What is most distructiv
THEY TAKE BILLIONS YEARLY IN FEES. WHY HAVE THEY NOT BUILT OR ESTABLISHE
MOST BUSINESSES WORK HARD TO KEEP AN INCOME STREAM COMMING IN. ALL EXCEPT THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY.
Fire Insurers should have a way to pump ocean water onto those hills. Just like Health Insurers should fight to keep damaging chemicals out of our food chain and the enviorment
As Gov. Richardson and Lt. Gov. Garimandi pointed out, so many of our National Guard troops are stationed in Iraq, there aren't enough personnel or equipment states-sid
New York had their equipment, supplies and troops home at the time of the 9/11 attacks. One can only imagine how much worse conditions would have been, had those not been available then.
How many victims of Katrina or victims of these fires could have been saved were adequate supplies, equipment and personnel available at the onset?
The levees were known to be unable to withstand anything more than a level-2 storm; supplies of water, food, clothing, medicine and blankets were non-existe
While most disasters can't be prevented, being prepared with personnel, equipment, emergency supplies and proper management can make a world of difference in the aftermath. Individual
Just another excuse for Bush-Chene
shovel USTaxpayer money to corporate welfare queen pals.
world's population is believed to reside
in asia, the rest of us'ns are scattered
'round the globe, but even in the previously
sparsely populated far-flung reaches of the
peoplevers
manifest itself. So, it kind of stands to
reason that you're going to see more of the
flight path/flood plain/hurr
those tumors on your kids' head will go away,
it's just a growth phase...so
weather? LOL
In France we have a team of 25 (yes 25) Canadairs in Marseille ready to fly and fight fires.
Ah, I forgot.. You all voted for a minimalist government and low taxes. Well, here is the result.
The US Forest Service owns or contracts for 1000 firefighti
Department of Defense has quite a few aircraft for this purpose too.
Canadairs? 215s or 415s? Los Angeles County leases 2 415s from Quebec every year just for Santa Ana season.
Avarice (GREED)
ANGER
STUPIDITY
The USA suffers collective
What goes around comes around. Sadly few people ever see it. Too busy being emotional.
There are too many people. Not enough room or resources. Human consumptio
It's all going to come to a screeching halt very soon.
Sheep.
If we don't stop breeding, it won't be worth living on Earth, anyway.
"If people persist in trespassin
Ed Abbey
~
Yea, in the center of LA there are no wildfires, but there is horrible air quality and probably contribute
"Yet Americans have an annoying habit of ignoring the potential for disaster until ... after disaster strikes." Actually, I live in San Diego and I thought San Diego was well prepared, and everyone here knows of the possibilit
About the only constructi
So is that why the good citizens there voted DOWN tax increases that would go fire services? Remember that? It was after the 2003 fire.
And now they are wailing that enough wasn't done to stop these fires. (Go read the LA Times.)
IF we had local, state, and national plans, budgets (with real allocated money, not just empty promises), people and equipment who routinely prepare for these kinds of disasters, we wouldn't have such heart-wren
Why can't we employ people to work in dealing with disasters? Design and make more fire-retar
Why must we put our heads in the sands and ignore predictabl
But it makes me madder than hell that so many people say, well, we've been here since the 1800's and the population hasn't grown. Has that population cut back natural fuel? Do they have routine fire drills and done all they can do to protect themselves
I'm really mad about IRAQ and our squandered resources there. America should ALWAYS put domestic issues up front, unless we can prove were attacked by an enemy aka Pearl Harbor and the Japanese. Not like our current crisis, wherein we attacked/i
I'm full of sound and fury.
Only after the fact will they realize what should have been done to prevent a disaster.
This is true of the 2004 political landscape also. I'm glad that I was wise in 2000, 2004, and 2006... I guess that I didn't like the first emerging dot.
Seen Santa Ana winds/fire