Summer is the wildfire season for many states across the continental U.S.
Of course, Democrats will use these fires as an excuse to push for more action on climate change.
But one Left-leaning environmental group just gave a surprising explanation for the increase in forest fires.
Biden: Wildfires are “intensifying because of the climate crisis”
Wildfires burning across Canada are sending smoke to several major cities on the east coast. This has led to panic in urban centers as residents struggle to breathe due to the worsening air quality conditions. Now, Joe Biden has taken the obvious next step in declaring we need to fight climate change.
Last week, Biden took to Twitter to update America on the raging fires. “We’ve deployed more than 600 U.S. firefighters, support personnel, and equipment to support Canada as they respond to record wildfires—events that are intensifying because of the climate crisis.”
We've deployed more than 600 U.S. firefighters, support personnel, and equipment to support Canada as they respond to record wildfires – events that are intensifying because of the climate crisis.
Here at home, we’re in close touch with state and local leaders to ensure they…
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 7, 2023
Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren echoed Biden’s warnings about the dangers of climate change. “Extreme weather. Drought. Massive wildfires that destroy our air quality. Evidence of a climate crisis is all around us and Northeasterners can look no further than out their own windows to find it,” she wrote on Twitter.
Extreme weather. Drought. Massive wildfires that destroy our air quality. Evidence of a climate crisis is all around us and Northeasterners can look no further than out their own windows to find it.
We need to address this crisis head-on—there’s no more time to waste.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) June 8, 2023
But government data shows that the concern about increasing fires may be based in fiction.
According to government data, wildfires aren’t becoming more frequent or severe
Leftists have been arguing for over 20 years that changes in our climate are leading to an increase in wildfires. The problem with this assessment is that wildfires aren’t becoming more commonplace or severe.
According to the US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), the number of wildfires in the country have gone down over the past few years. The agency has been tracking wildfires since 1983, and data on their website shows that the number of wildfires has been going up and down ever since.
In 2022, the agency reported that there were 68,988 total wildfires in the United States. This staggering number is down from 96,385 in 2006. The total acreage damaged by fire is also down substantially from a record high in 2015 of 10,125,149 acres.
Leftist group implies the federal government’s role in wildfires should not be ignored
The Center for Biological Diversity is a left-leaning advocacy group who believes “that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature—to the existence of our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants.” They’ve been fighting for animal welfare for over 30 years.
Now they’ve got a message for the ideologues who are pushing the “climate crisis” on the people at every turn. “The vast majority of western dry forests are at risk of large, high-intensity fire because of the effects of poor forest management over the past century,” the group said.
This seems to point to the federal government, which is charged with forestry management, as the main culprit for the problem. The statement by the group interestingly matches former President Donald Trump’s position during the 2016 campaign.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
