Congressman Adam Schiff went after the president for his response to the wildfires in California on Tuesday and his argument was promptly disassembled by a journalist.
The president tweeted, “California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean,” on Monday.
California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2018
Schiff, who has been a constant critic of the president, responded to Trump by saying, “You’ve been in office for 18 LONG months and you still don’t have a science adviser, so allow me to help. Environmental protections have nothing to do with the wildfires in CA. Climate change does.”
You’ve been in office for 18 LONG months and you still don’t have a science adviser, so allow me to help.
Environmental protections have nothing to do with the wildfires in CA. Climate change does.
We’re not going to let you use fires as an excuse to clear-cut our forests. https://t.co/R5IdRmPpO7
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) August 7, 2018
Kimberley Strassel, a columnist for Wall Street Journal, tweeted documents to disprove Schiff’s claim. The record numbers of dead trees, according to reports dated last December, have allowed for the fires to continue to burn.
Allow me to help YOU, Mr. Schiff. Here is a link to December USDA report showing a record 129 million dead trees in California, citing forest mismanagement for fires. Your own California state fire office signed on to it. https://t.co/kzGQclSpul https://t.co/vq3h4SkkxJ
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) August 7, 2018
“The total number of trees that have died due to drought and bark beetles to an historic 129 million on 8.9 million acres. The dead trees continue to pose a hazard to people and critical infrastructure, mostly centered in the central and southern Sierra Nevada region of the state,” a statement by the USDA Forest Service and CAL FIRE read from December.
