California: Woke environmental policies are 'gasoline' for wildfires

California has long been a leader in the fight against air pollution, dating back to 1967 when then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Air Resources Act, creating the State Air Resources Board. However, the state's leaders—particularly Democrats in the 21st century—have pursued an aggressive climate agenda that, while addressing climate change, is also contributing to the increasingly devastating wildfires. So much so that even one of the most ardent proponents of the climate cause, Gov. Gavin Newsom, has been forced to reconsider some of his policies.

After the devastating fires of 2020, the worst year in history in the Golden State, with 4,397,809 acres burned in 9,639 fires, Newsom accepted the need to intensify controlled burns to control the flames that devastated California each year. In 2022, collaborative federal, state, local and tribal entities formed the California Strategic Plan to Expand the Use of Beneficial Fires.

Democrats blame climate change, experts call out "disastrous mismanagement"

Although Newsom and the Democratic caucus, supported by some studies, blame the wildfires exclusively on climate change, the truth is that the Golden State's environmental policies have contributed significantly. This was revealed in a Stanford University study by Rebecca Miller, Christopher Field and Katharine J. Mach. It found that "disastrous land mismanagement" is at least as much to blame as global warming.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) itself acknowledges that "decades of fire exclusion - including controlled burns - coupled with the increasing impacts of climate change, have dramatically increased the size and intensity of wildfires across the state."

Newsom claimed to have treated 90,000 acres between 2019-2020

In fact, the necessity of controlled burns for the California landscape has been known since before the 1800s as several studies have shown. Then, it was estimated that each year more than 4.5 million acres burned annually in prescribed fires to help regenerate the ecosystem and prevent uncontrolled fires.

On a side note, Newsom boasted of having treated 90,000 acres between 2019 and 2020, a ridiculous amount by comparison and insufficient for experts. Unfortunately, an investigation by CapRadio and NPR California showed that, in reality, barely more than 27,000 acres were treated in this period of time. As we indicated above, 2020 was the worst fire year in the Golden State.

Bureaucracy slows controlled burning

Experts, such as Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, point out that one million should be burned in controlled fires every year "for a long time to achieve strategic objectives, such as the destruction of fewer structures in fires." This target has remained out of reach for decades and still doesn't appear to be part of the California government's plans. Instead, the state continues to impose bureaucratic hurdles on the execution of preventive fires, citing concerns over air pollution.

In fact, the changes introduced by Newsom have demonstrated the value of listening to experts. Both 2022 and 2023 saw some of the lowest acreage burned in the 21st century, with total fires not even reaching half a million acres. However, figures for 2024 showed an uptick, though the total remained outside the top five worst years. It's important to note that extraordinary rains earlier in the year led to a significant buildup of brush, which strict California laws prevented from being adequately cleared, thereby increasing the risk of wildfires.

California's worst fires in the 21st century

It is no coincidence that the worst wildfires in California's history have occurred in the 21st century. The only fire in the top 10 prior to 2000 took place in 1889, when a blaze consumed 300,000 acres across San Diego, Riverside, and Orange counties. It ranks ninth on the list.

The other nine occurred from 2015 onwards. Seven of these took place with Newsom in office, five of them in 2020. In fact, the worst of all took place precisely this year, when 1,032,648 acres were burned in Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Trinity and Shasta counties. A total of 935 structures were lost and one person was killed. 

The second-largest fire on this list occurred in 2021, affecting Butte, Lassen, Plumas, Shasta, and Tehama counties. It burned 963,309 acres, destroyed 1,329 structures, and claimed one life. The third-largest fire, which scorched 459,123 acres and destroyed 283 structures, took place in 2018 across Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, and Glenn counties, before Newsom became governor.

However, the deadliest and most destructive fire occurred in 2018 in Butte County. It claimed the lives of 85 people and destroyed 18,804 structures. The second deadliest fire, recorded in 1933 in Los Angeles, took the lives of 29 workers from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), who were attempting to fight the blaze.