Environmentalists Fueled California Wildfires and Dumped Carbon Into Atmosphere

In a prior post here, I wondered what the California wildfires did to their proposals for carbon capping.

I had said:

I wonder if this smoke affects the Governor’s plans of caps and trades of carbon emissions? Will California be buying carbon credits from states that aren’t burning to the ground?

If burning carbon is so bad for the environment, would investing in more firefighting equipment and better land management be a wiser move than regulating energy and carbon from cars? I think it would be cheaper in the long run. And lots more people would still have their homes.

So how much carbon did those fires dump into the atmosphere? Almost 9 million tons. A new study says so, but I think they are low-balling it big time. From the AP here:

In one week, Southern California’s wildfires spewed the same amount of carbon dioxide — the primary global warming gas — as the state’s power plants and vehicles did, scientists figure.

A new study shows that U.S. wildfires pump a significant amount of the greenhouse gas into the air each year, more than the state of Pennsylvania does. It raises questions about how useful it is to plant trees to offset rising carbon dioxide emissions and soothe environmental consciences.

The researchers calculated how much carbon dioxide was likely to come from the devastating blazes Oct. 19-26. It’s a lot: 8.7 million tons.

That’s more than the state of Vermont produces in a year. On average, wildfires in the United States each year pump 322 million tons of carbon dioxide.

If environmentalists wouldn’t obstinately stand in the way of proper land management to prevent forest fires, maybe thousands of acres of land would be saved. And those “threatened” species that prevent land owners from clearing scrub brush? They all burn up and die when fires sweep through.

From the American Thinker here, posted during the wildfires:

Environmental mandates have made fire safety for humans take a back seat to the well-being of the aforementioned California creatures, as well as that of every bug and rat lucky enough to be listed as an “endangered species” under federal and state law. For over a decade, environmentalists have hamstrung Californians in their efforts to clear the dry brush that is providing the fuel for this massive fire. If any of these endangered or even “threatened” species are found in shrubs or bushes on public or private property, it becomes very difficult to give this vegetation even the slightest haircut. This is true even if city codes require firebreaks to be built.

To ecoreligionists, it more important to “live the part” of worshiping the environment than it is to actually do something to manage the environment responsibly. Regulating pollution is one thing, but when your policies directly lead to disaster, pollution, widespread death of animals and the destruction of hundreds of homes, your policies are a failure.