Blown, Burned, Shaken and Underfunded

Except for earthquakes, most of the mega-natural-disasters that have befallen the United States are pretty much attributable in significant part to mankind-accelerated global climate change. Fires, floods, storm surges, tropical storms (mostly hurricanes), droughts, etc., etc. But if official federal government policy is to deny the existence of this rather obvious and scientifically-proven force, there is little motive for the feds to re-budget to accommodate the eventual natural disasters that will definitely challenge us for the foreseeable future.

Nothing screams “unprepared, reactive-only and woefully inadequate” like the U.S. Forest Service (Department of Interior). “The absurd way in which Washington pays to put out wildfires throughout the West is making a dangerous situation even more so. It’s a rare point of bipartisan agreement in Congress that a fix is urgently needed, particularly as fires grow in duration and intensity.

“But as with so much else on Capitol Hill, politics and ideology have left a serious problem to fester and grow, as lawmakers forsake a simple solution and hold the issue hostage to more complicated battles. Partisan feuds over climate change, clear-cut logging and bedrock federal environmental policies are undermining efforts to confront the rapidly swelling fire money dilemma.

“The root problem: The U.S. Forest Service is strapped for cash. Its firefighting budget amounts to a fraction of what it actually costs to fight fires. Not sending firefighters is hardly an option. Even in the wine country blazes, which are not on federal land, the service has sent 1,500 firefighters to help out the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, along with dozens of fire engines, air tankers, helicopters and water scoopers.

“The Forest Service has no choice but to pay for the assistance by raiding funds from other programs in its budget — many of them oriented toward preventing the very fires it is fighting. Prevention efforts are put aside as dollars are funneled toward putting out flames.

“To put it in perspective: About 56% of the agency’s budget now gets consumed fighting fires. In 1995, not even a sixth of its budget was spent there. That is a lot of fire prevention work going undone.” Los Angeles Times, October 20^th.

The politicization of disaster relief has become particularly obvious in recent years. While the GOP Congress jumped high and fast to pass recent relief legislation for red states impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Sandy, there is the obvious federal threat that debt-ridden Hispanic-culture Puerto Rico can’t count on the rebuilding effort that is clearly needed that locals clearly cannot afford to implement. To put it mildly, the federal disaster relief for bright blue California’s horrific fires has been minimal. Even as Congress approved $36.5 billion on October 24^th to cover of all of the recent hurricane and fire damage, the allocation in that allotment is woefully inadequate for those in blue regions.

The bulk of the money goes to red states for hurricane damage. The rather complete destruction of blue Puerto Rico and the murderous decimation of blue northern California towns generated a lower proportionate sum: “The spending deal includes $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to natural disasters stretching from the storm-scarred beaches of Puerto Rico to the scorched vineyards of Northern California. There’s also a $16 billion increase in the National Flood Insurance Program’s borrowing limit; $576.5 million to address wildfires in the West.” Washington Post, October 24^th.

Superstorm Sandy inflicted serious damage on a number of mid-Atlantic blue states in 2012, and initial GOP sentiments in Congress showed a deep reluctance to pass a bill authorizing any federal relief to the victims of that disaster. Without the intervention of Wall Streeters, strong contributors to the Republican Party, and Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, it is highly unlikely that the GOP-controlled congress would have passed any disaster relief. Even as a January 2013 bill was pressured through Congress, claiming waste and “pork,” lots of Republicans still voted against relief, from folks like Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham. Oh, the same Congress-people who voted for big check to Texas and Florida in 2017. With the same basic structure as the Sandy-relief legislation.

But since earthquakes and fires are more likely in Western blue states, it’s pretty obvious that federal programs targeting these natural disasters are of vastly lower priority than disasters – from tornadoes to hurricanes – more likely to strike red states. The Forest Service needs a lot more money to deal with an expected acceleration of fire-driven natural disasters.

Both California and the Forest Service need more air tankers to drop fire retardant and water on these wildfires… with a very serious and fundamental massive upgrade to be able to work at night. More people. More money. But preventative measures are equally important… or we can remain divided, foment increased anger and much more polarization, as red elected officials make it official government practice to punish blue voters by just plain letting them suffer without providing the same level of benefits that are accorded to red state voters in similar circumstances.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it does not take a rocket scientist to see what’s wrong with this picture and how it will impact our very survival as a viable democracy.