Could President-elect Donald Trump’s energy policies worsen future wildfires? Several environmental science professors think so and warned on Sunday. Wildfires devastated Southern California this past week, killing 16 people and destroying thousands of homes. Climate change doesn’t necessarily cause wildfires but makes them more frequent and intense.
An in-depth look by @AndrewDessler on links between whats happening with LA wildfires and our changing climate over at The Climate Brink today: https://t.co/UVe6BeLlnL
— Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath) January 13, 2025
Yes. @ExxonMobil's own scientists DID predict how much the planet would warm given continued fossil fuel burning. And they DID warn us about the "potentially catastrophic events" that would result from that warming in their 1982 internal memo.#NewClimateWar#CaliforniaFires pic.twitter.com/2sCLuVDNZt
— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) January 13, 2025
Trump and his supporters have criticized California’s Democratic leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom, for contributing to the destruction in Los Angeles County. Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to dismantle President Joe Biden’s clean energy policies, calling them a “green new scam,” and to boost oil and gas production when he takes office on January 20. However, the question was asked: Is it a climate change policy issue or a city and county issue because they did not spend the money to clear all the dead brush?
In the past, Trump has called climate change a “hoax.” During his 2024 presidential campaign, he repeatedly cast doubt on climate change. Trump said that “hoax or not, dead brush has to be cleared.”
"Los Angeles wildfires have become perfect fuel for Trump and climate denial" by @MatthewRozsa for @Salon: https://t.co/oebEJMXspu
— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) January 11, 2025
Robert Wilson, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s Geography and the Environment Department, said, “We know Trump does not accept the science of climate change and its reality. He’s very dismissive of it. Certainly, I’ve seen no news account over the past week in which he’s acknowledged that climate change has contributed to the worsening of the wildfires in California.”
Wilson added, “So, collectively, that is very discouraging because it seems to indicate that he’s not going to do much to address climate change, and he’s not going to take the current and emerging threats of climate change, particularly with wildfire, seriously either.”
Jacob Bendix, a professor emeritus at Syracuse University’s Geography and the Environment Department, explained how Trump’s energy policies could lead to a hotter and drier Earth, fueling wildfires.
“The increased exploitation of fossil fuels that Donald Trump has promised would worsen our already severe wildfire problems. While there are numerous and varied contributing factors for large fires in the western United States and Canada, all have one thing in common: dry hot conditions,” he said. “Fires require heat, and they require dry fuel. The cities are not clearing away the dead brush, so the higher temperatures are, and the less precipitation there is, the more readily wildfires are ignited and the faster they spread.”
Environmental impact of Trump’s energy policies
Jacob Bendix continues, “We know that using fossil fuels adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and we know that the resulting climate change includes higher temperatures and increased frequency of drought. So there is a direct line from policies for fossil fuel use to increased wildfire.” Of course this is without any regard to the responsibility of the county to get the brush off those hills.
James Clark, Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science, said it’s unclear what a second Trump administration could mean for the environment. “There’s obviously a lot of speculation on what he would actually do on energy policy,” he said.
“He’s surrounding himself with some folks that obviously are going to promote fossil fuels, but at the same time are probably going to take a broader view on energy policy.”
Some of Trump’s picks that can shape energy policy include former New York Representative Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), former North Dakota Governor to head the U.S. Department of the Interior, and energy executive Chris Wright to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. Clark added, “I think that’s all unknown, but anything that continues to increase greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere will continue to have a big impact on wildfires.”
In the case of the California wildfires, a lack of prescribed fires, intentionally set by professionals to reduce hazardous fuels like brush and dead trees, helped create perfect conditions for the flames to spread rapidly. Tahra Jirari, the director of economic analysis at the tech-aligned Chamber of Progress, stressed, “If prescribed fires have been conducted at the rate they should have, the damage would have been lessened.”
Trump has blamed Governor Gavin Newsom, claiming, “Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snowmelt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.” He further alleged that Newsom prioritized protecting the Delta smelt fish over Californians.
Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s communications director, responded, “There is no such document as the water restoration declaration; that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”
President Joe Biden said, “I am being frequently briefed on the wildfires in west Los Angeles. My team and I are in touch with state and local officials, and have offered any federal assistance needed to help suppress the terrible Pacific Palisades fire.”
Fire crews are working hard to extinguish the California wildfires.
The Palisades fire, which has burned 23,713 acres, is only 11% contained as of Sunday afternoon. The Eaton fire, which has burned 14,117 acres, is only 27% contained as of late Sunday morning. The Hurst fire, which has burned 799 acres, is 89% contained as of Sunday morning.
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