The scene in Hawaii is tragic and horrific. As of this writing, 55 people are dead, and many others are missing. The property damage is going to be almost incalculable. There are no adequate words to describe the terror and misery the fires have caused.
But politicians and the legacy media wasted no time ringing the bell of climate change. CNN is hopeful that the disaster in Hawaii will finally prompt President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency. RealClearPolitics has the transcript of a conversation between John Kirby from the National Security Council and CNN’s Poppy Harlow on Thursday.
JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: The president hasn’t made a decision yet on declaring a national emergency on climate, Poppy. But for all intents and purposes, he’s treating this with all the due gravity and the seriousness that the climate crisis deserves. I mean, it’s been the focus for him since day one.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN: Well, how much worse does it need to get to declare it a national emergency?
KIRBY: Well look, I don’t want to get ahead of the president or his decision-making here. All I can tell you is that as an administration we’re going to stay focused on the climate crisis. It is front and center. It is right in front of us. And these wildfires and all the severe storms that we continue to see are definitely caused as a result of what’s going on in the — in the rising temperature across the globe. And so we’ve got to treat this seriously.
And look, the — as the president said, even on this trip, in addition to setting aside land at the Grand Canyon National Park, also working with companies to develop more clean energy technology, more clean energy industry, and moving the nation in that transition. It’s going to take some time.
But in everything that the president has been doing literally since day one, he’s been focused on trying to make sure that we can lead the world in terms of dealing with the climate crisis.
HARLOW: You say you don’t want to get ahead of the president. That indicates to me it is more likely than not he will.
KIRBY: I’m not — I’m not making a speculation one way or the other, Poppy. I’m just not going to speak to the president’s decision-making on that
This presents the perfect situation for the White House and its allies to announce that we are in a climate emergency and that it is time to limit travel, consumption, light, heat, air conditioning, and whatever else they can think of. Such a declaration would be welcomed by lobbyists, the wealthy, young people, and many other groups.
I suspect it has been in the works for some time and that it is being tweaked and fine-tuned before it is sprung on the public. And before you ask, I doubt that anyone will ask China to step up and do its part. If I were to put money on it, I would bet it comes closer to the election to energize a base that is thinking that Biden needs to step down. Biden or his replacement will utilize it to secure a win.
However, Clay Trauernicht, a professor and environmental management expert at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, told Fox News:
Blaming this on weather and climate is misleading. Hawai’i’s fire problem is due to the vast areas of unmanaged, nonnative grasslands from decades of declining agriculture. 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. The transformation to savanna makes the landscape way more sensitive to bad ‘fire weather’ – hot, dry, windy conditions. It also means we get huge buildups of fuels during rainy periods.
The piece also quoted Peter Vitousek, who is a professor of earth sciences at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Vitousek told USA Today, “There is no doubt that fire-prone grasses have invaded drier Hawaiian ecosystems and brought larger, more intense fires.” The article also cites the website of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, which includes:
Over 98% of wildfires are human caused. Human ignitions coupled with an increasing amount of nonnative, fire-prone grasses and shrubs and a warming, drying climate have greatly increased the wildfire problem.
All of this is not to say that a warmer, drier climate has not created adverse conditions. You can see that almost every year in the West when Summer rolls around. As a guy who has worked as a firefighter, I can attest that temperature, wind, and humidity all play roles in fire behavior.
But the primary cause of fires in Hawaii is human activity. The majority of the time, it is by someone directly causing a fire which is spurred on by the legacy of defunct plantations and ranches or the introduction of non-native plant species. These are spaces that can and should be rehabilitated. It is time people learned how to better live with the land, which may not mean reducing the standard of living.
At the same time, environmentalists fight logging at every opportunity. One group called Earth Island Institute is opposed to removing standing dead and downed trees and other fuels to reduce fire danger. You can read more about that here. The Ashley National Forest near where I used to live was so choked with dead trees that, in some places, people complained that it was impossible to walk into the forest itself. And they were told it was a policy that was set by Congress. Even USA Today ended up having to report that the majority of the Canadian wildfires that blanketed the northeast part of the U.S. with smoke were human-caused.
It is interesting that the only thing these people want to consider is climate change. Climate change is a factor, but not the only factor. Of course, there is big money in green energy, and many wealthy people and politicians, including members of the Biden administration, have ties to those companies. The declaration of a climate emergency would be devastating for many and very lucrative for a few.