Introduction-
The Reality of Disasters and Federal Responsibility When fires become larger then we have seen before and create disastrous effect for the human beings that need to rebuild, it would seem to me that judging how someone has fought those fire without personal oversight would be an outrageous way for us to treat our fellow citizens. I live in Texas where we have hurricanes. We have gotten federal aide without questioning the need. States from all over the United States sent trained professionals to help CenterPoint, our company that services the utility companies in Houston, Texas, to provide citizens in Harris County electric service. Why are Californias facing a different standard?
Trump’s Partisan Games: Are All States Equal?
Even as Trump spouts divisive rhetoric about Mexico and Canada, these countries are sending firefighters, planes, and equipment to aid California. This raises the question: Will Americans who voted for Trump help or hinder California’s recovery? Is he a president for all Americans, or only for those in red states and those who supported him?
Musk and Trump’s Misinformation Campaign
Both Trump and Musk have spread outrageous lies about the California wildfires. From false claims about firefighter equipment to baseless accusations of mismanagement. Their rhetoric undermines critical relief efforts. It is shameful what the Republicans in the House of Representatives are going byrefusing disaster relief to California unless Democrats support a reduction in tax for their wealthy friends.
It is valuable information that FEMA has immediately respond to the needs in California. California will need continued help. Do Republicans in the House have the guts or courage to defy Mike Johnsons, Speaker of the House, and Trump’s demands to get what they want. Again, is one group in America going to receive all the benefits of Trump’s election? Will they pay their fair share so the middle class and economically challenged classes in America not have to pay more taxes, since Trump’s wealthy friends get a tax cut.
Governor Newsom Sets the Record Straight:
Gavin Newsom writes an email systematically to confront the lies being put out by Trump and Musk and also asks each of us to understand what California needs from us. Here is one of his recently newsletter (<[email protected]), which occurred on January 13, 2025, at 1:22 PM:
“Mark Twain said it well when he said, ‘A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
Sadly, unfortunately, Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the far-right have taken the occasion of a historic wildfire caused by hurricane force winds to spread lies about California’s preparedness and response in order to score political points.
They lied about budget and personnel cuts—when the ruth is both the number of CALFIRE staff and the CalFIRE budget has nearly doubled since I took office.
They lied about mismanagement of forest lands (AKA ‘raking the forest’) when our budget for forest management is TEN TIMES larger than it was when I took office, and we have more than doubled the amount of acres treated for wildfire resilience.
They lied about reservoirs being empty. Even PolitiFact found ‘regional water reservoirs in Southern California are at historic highs.
They lied about firefighters from Oregon being held up from participating in the fight.”
Trump and Musk’s lies include that firefighters were using women’s purses to fight fires. They said the Hollywood sign was destroyed and it was not. They have wasted so much time spreading lies on Twitter when California is attempting to fight fires and keep their citizen’s safe. How about not listening to these two men spreading lies and realize the massive destruction that has occurred with homes, forests, and the thousands of people who had to evacuate. They now have to go back to where their home was, and it is completely destroyed. How about the people that lost family members in these fires, and how about the people that lost their cats, dogs and other animals. Are we going to allow these two people to have NO COMPASSION for the people in California, or are we going to stand up and demand that these kind of comments need to be stopped, and California needs our help.
Holding Recovery Hostage: Republicans’ Leverage for the Wealthy:
As Governor Newsom highlighted in his January 17 at 3:53 PM EST newsletter, Republicans are leveraging federal aid for California as a bargaining chip to secure tax cuts for the wealthy.
“Republicans are preparing to hold California families reeling from the impact of deadly wildfires hostage unless Democrats vote to pass tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. They are saying, no federal aid for recovery unless Republicans get what they want. Do not just take my word for it, Here is Donald Trump Himself: ‘They want the money to go out there so badly and I don’t think we should do a bill until Los Angeles is included and when Los Angeles is included we get everything we want.’
Governor Newsom has sent a letter to Congressional leaders to ask them to provide immediate disaster aid that will be ongoing efforts for California to recovery from this dreadful destruction of these fires. The reality is the Republicans have a slim majority, and all that is needed is two or three Republicans to recognize the horrific need that California has. Newsom indicates that he will keep up with California Republicans that refuse to combine with the Democrats and vote for California relief. He will let their California constituents know how they voted to relief for California without the tax reduction for the wealthy. When a disaster occurs like this, it is ridiculous to think that political games are a part of the need for money to rebuild the sections of California that have been destroyed. Newsom has asked all of us to call our congressional member to pass immediate disaster aid that is not subject to partisan negotiations. You can get Newsom’s newsletter by emailing him at [email protected]. He has an excellent letter to the House of Representatives, which you need to hear:
“California is facing one of the worst natural disasters in our history. On Tuesday, January 7, hurricane-force winds in Los Angeles County fueled a firestorm that has left at least 25 people dead and burned to the ground thousands of homes, businesses, schools and churches. Even with the state prepositioning assets — and the quick deployment of the mightiest firefighting force in the country — the 100-mile-per-hour winds fueled unimaginable conditions that grounded our aerial fleet and created a firestorm that swept through whole neighborhoods in a matter of hours. California is working tirelessly to extinguish the embers and begin the process of rebuilding. But we cannot do this alone — this crisis demands a united and immediate federal response.
Californians urge you to provide expedited supplemental disaster aid to assist the ongoing response without conditions or prolonged negotiation. Doing otherwise would delay the assistance our communities desperately need. Families who have lost everything, firefighters and emergency responders who have worked tirelessly to save lives, and local governments overwhelmed by the scale of this disaster are counting on swift federal support.
In times of natural disaster — from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Helene — Americans have always stood together, setting aside politics to extend a helping hand to those in need. Historically, federal disaster aid has been provided without conditions, recognizing that political calculations or regional divides should not encumber relief efforts. Our long national history of responding to natural disasters, no matter where they occur, has always been Americans helping Americans, full stop. This principle of unity is at the heart of our nation’s resilience.
Some have suggested that California did not do enough to prepare ahead of this catastrophe, so allow me to set the record straight. Under my administration, California has taken historic action to strengthen wildfire resilience and emergency response. The number of CAL FIRE personnel has nearly doubled since 2019, growing from 5,829 to 10,741. CAL FIRE’s budget has also nearly doubled in that time, increasing from $2 billion to $3.8 billion. We have expanded the budget for wildfire and forest resilience tenfold — from $200 million annually in 2018 to $2 billion in cumulative investments alongside the ongoing $200 million yearly commitment. These measures represent California’s commitment to mitigating wildfire risks. Further, water reservoirs in Southern California are at near-record levels, and there is no shortage in the region. Let’s be clear: Extreme heat, sustained hurricane-force winds, and dry conditions created an unprecedented challenge for Los Angeles — conditions that allowed any ignition to explode into a firestorm.
To better understand the gravity of the situation, I echo Representatives Sherman and Chu and invite you to visit the affected areas with me and witness firsthand the devastation Californians are enduring. Touring the communities and meeting with the countless Americans who have suffered extreme trauma will give you a deeper understanding of the need for unconditioned and immediate federal aid.
Our challenges are not unique to California, as natural disasters have intensified and grown in number across the country. This issue transcends party lines and state boundaries. By working together, we can ensure that all Americans — whether in Louisiana, Florida, California, or anywhere else — receive the assistance they need when disaster strikes. I stand ready, along with the full weight of our Congressional delegation, to collaborate with you to secure the necessary aid for California and every American state impacted by disasters. Respectfully, Gavin Newsom” Holding Recovery Hostage: Republicans’ Leverage for the Wealthy
Climate Change Warning with California Fire
CNN on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 1120 PM EST in the article entitled “LA fries were larger and more intense because of planet-warming pollution, study suggests, by Angela Fritz has a shorter presentation of the results of climate change and how this created the fires in LA. “The fires that have ravaged Los Angeles over the past week were larger and burned hotter than they would have in a world without planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, a new analysis suggests.”
“Southern California’s abnormally warm summer and fall and a severely delayed raining seasons so far in the winter of 2024-2025.
Two winters in a row, downtown Los Angeles recorded twice as much rain as normal winter, researchers noted. This in itself is a calling card of human-caused climate change, which promotes more moisture in the atmosphere, leading to larger rainfall totals in the wettest years. The rain spurred growth of ‘substantially more’ grasses and shrubs than normal. This vegetation in the Los Angeles region was among the greenest since 2000, they noted.
When the weather pendulum swung over to dry last summer, the grasses and shrubs—what Southern California wildfires feed on—began to dry out. The exceptionality late onset of the rainy season contributed even more to that drying. The lack of rainfall since May 2024 was exceptional. At only 0.29 inches of rain between May 1, 2024, and January 8, the period ranks second driest behind 1962-1963, with records dating back to 1877.
These massive swings from dry to wet to dry conditions—known as ‘weather whiplash’ are becoming more frequent as the planet warms due to fossil fuel pollution. These wings worsen the severity and chances of hazards like wildfires and flash floods.
The most detailed report of climate change and the contributions to the wildfires is in Time on January 10, 2025, 8:00 AM EST. The article is written by Jeffrey Kluger entitled ‘L.A. Fires Show the Reality of Living in a World with 1.5 C of Warming.” What they describe is the five wildfires that roared acrossregions in multi-days that “began Jan.7, some 180,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes—the equivalent of pitching the entire population of Little Rock, Ark., out into the streets or filling Los Angeles’s massive So-Fi Stadium to more than double its capacity and not letting anyone go home again.”
Picture this happening in your own town or city what happened in Altadena, Calif., since evacuated people were sent “into the night riding in wheelchairs and pushing walkers, many in their night clothes, as a stinging snow of orange embers descended around them.” Yes, there are problems with water pressure, so fire fighters were unable to save homes, and there are clear descriptions in this article for the reason of less water.
First Trump blamed the disaster on Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden. He accused Newsom of not signing the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed million of gallons of water. THE TRUTH IS THE FOLLOWING: “Biden ignored Trump’s broadside. Newsom’s office hit back, posting on X: 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.’” Trump was also wrong about FEMA, since they released funds to fight the fires on Jan. 7; “he was not wrong about feeble water system, though it’s possible there is nothing the city could have done to keep it supplied sufficient. The hydrants are fed by three one-million gallon tanks in the Pacific Palisades hills. Those were not meant to work alone.” These tanks were to be supplemented by “water from firefighting aircraft that, in this case, couldn’t fly in the cyclonic Santa Ana winds. At a news conference the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said that ‘the demand for water was four times greater than we’ve ever seen in the system.”
Time then goes into a detailed description of what is feeding more and bigger storms and causing more destruction. “The very metabolism of the Earth has been thrown off by an atmosphere understanding—and, even more fundamentally, accepting—the science. Only then can we implement policies and put in place protocols that help us both reduce the likelihood of more such crises and minimize the death and destruction when they ultimately do occur.”
They provide us a clear understanding like the CNN article about the “climate change turbocharges wildfires, with droughts, persistent heat, dried vegetation, and lightning storms all worsening in a warming world and all contributing to out-ocontrol blazes.” They say, “a new report from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Climate Change Service—a report that landed on Jan. 10, while L.A. still burned—arrived as such bad news. According to the release, 2024 was the first year global mean temperatures exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.6 degrees C (2.88 degrees F). That blows past the benchmark established by the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, which sought to limit future warming to well below 2 degree C in the 21st century, with a preferred target no higher than 1.5 degrees C.”
Time does a fabulous job of detailing the climate effect on other countries on the earth. They also detail many of the U.S. disasters of floods, hurricanes and wildfires. They provide the data on release of Carbon dioxide, Methane, and say, “Our data points clearly to a steady global increase of greenhouse gas emissions and these remain the main agent of climate change.”
They end the article by saying, “Humanity is in charge of its own destiny. How we respond to the climate challenge should be based on evidence. The future is in our hands. Swift and decisive action can still alter the trajectory of our future climate.”
Conclusion:
The devastation caused by California’s wildfires demands a unified, compassionate response from all Americans. Yet Trump and Musk have chosen to spread lies, mock disaster victims, and prioritize political games over human lives.
To those who voted for Trump, ask yourself: Did you vote for leadership that mocks disaster victims and withholds aid to advance an agenda for the ultra-wealthy? Is this the America you envisioned?
To Democrats, we must confront the stark reality: Trump’s presidency represents a clear and present danger to our values, our environment, and our democracy. The time for complacency is over. Trump assumes office, we face a critical fight—not just for California, but for the soul of our nation. If you read or listened to his inaugural speech it was dark and tremendously disturbing.
Let’s rise above the lies, the games, and the divisions. Let’s stand with California and demand leadership that values truth, compassion, and action for all Americans.