California Gov. Jerry Brown suggested that “hundreds of billions” could be needed to adapt to man-made global warming in the “span of a few years.”
“People have ideas, whether it’s forest management or how to do our fire prevention — great, let’s hear about them,” Brown said during a Sunday press conference on the massive wildfires raging across California.
Three major fires scorched more than 200,000 acres, mostly in Northern California, since Thursday, according to Cal Fire. The fires destroyed thousands of structures and left at least 31 people dead.
“We’re going to have to invest more and more in adaptation. When we talk about things like the climate and the warming climate and we talk about words like adaptation, that’s what we’re talking about,” Brown said.
“And it’s not millions, it’s billions and tens and probably hundreds of billions even in the span of a few years. We’ve got lots of work to do,” the Democrat added. (RELATED: Jerry Brown Found A Scapegoat For The Deadly Wildfires Occurring Under His Watch)
A Butte County Sheriff deputy surveys a burned out home destroyed by the Camp fire in Paradise, California, U.S. Nov. 10, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Lam.
Brown didn’t refer to any specific actions or policies, but California does have a “Climate Adaptation Strategy” that’s supposed to guide state and local planners on planning for future global warming.
Adaptation generally refers to policies or actions to reduce the vulnerability of populations to the effects of future global warming, like projections of higher sea levels, more intense storms and more crop failures.
President Donald Trump said he’d pull federal funding if California did not “remedy” its wildfire problems. Trump blamed “poor” forest management practices for large wildfires.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” Trump tweeted.
Firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California, U.S. Nov. 9, 2018. The fire destroyed dozens of structures, forced thousands of evacuations and closed a major freeway. REUTERS/Eric Thayer.
Brown did mention that better forest management was necessary to getting fires under control, but then went on to say “those who deny” man-made global warming were “definitely contributing” to the deadly wildfires.
“Unfortunately, the best science is telling us that the dryness, warmth drought — all those thing, they’re going to intensify,” Brown said. “Predictions by some science are, we’ve already gone up by one degree. I think we can expect half a degree, which is catastrophic, over the next 10 to 12 years. We have a real challenge here threatening our whole way of life, so we got to pull together.”
Brown’s office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.