OPINION:
For decades, progressives have held every lever of power in the Golden State. This one-party rule has left thousands of homes and businesses in ashes as wildfires raged out of control in Southern California.
While nature supplied many of the necessary ingredients for the conflagration — low humidity and winds gusting beyond 80 mph — government set the stage for its unchecked spread.
Hydrants ran dry as every firefighter in the region was called upon to protect the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, where Zillow says homes are worth an average of $3.7 million each. Appropriate precautions weren’t taken because Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and his supermajority-wielding allies in the legislature elevate environmental virtue signaling over human lives.
Despite receiving record rainfall last year, the state flushed its stormwater into the ocean to avoid annoying the delta smelt. This 3-inch-long fish is on the endangered species list, which grants environmental extremists permission to issue insane dictates to protect it. That’s why water isn’t being pumped from areas of abundance to areas in need.
The water isn’t being retained as it falls, either. In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 1, setting aside $7.5 billion to improve water infrastructure. After a decade, only $137 million worth of water storage projects have been completed. Assemblyman Vince Fong, a Republican representing farmers in the Central Valley, has been relentless in urging Mr. Newsom to address the issue, but he was ignored.
The Getty Villa in Malibu showed preparation pays off. This storehouse of treasures from classical antiquity survived the flames because it did everything the state should have — but hasn’t — been doing.
“Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year,” museum chief Katherine E. Fleming said in a statement. “Additional fire prevention measures in place at the Villa include water storage on-site. Irrigation was immediately deployed throughout the grounds Tuesday morning.”
Liberals don’t want to build adequate reservoirs because they’d lose the excuse for imposing drastic “conservation” measures such as water rationing on the public. Los Angeles officials love rationing so much that they imposed austerity measures on firefighters by chartering a private jet to deliver city and county equipment to Ukraine. Those “surplus” hoses, nozzles, helmets and other equipment probably would have come in handy in battling the Pacific Palisades fire.
Golden State politicians are obsessed with such feel-good gestures. That’s why Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was in Ghana, attending the inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama, while her city burned. That’s why the city celebrates the person in charge of combating the blaze as “the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD.”
The latter’s website says her priorities include “Creating, supporting, and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity.” The results speak for themselves.
Diversity-minded environmentalists used lawsuits to block the brush clearing and controlled burns that would have stopped the fire from spreading. After all, if the fires didn’t happen, then leftists such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont independent, wouldn’t be able to blame the disaster on global warming.
Many residents recently found themselves without insurance as underwriters pulled out due to the state’s red tape. Others whose homes were spared from the flames found them looted, courtesy of progressives’ indulgent attitude toward crime.
California desperately needs new leadership. Perhaps this experience will be a catalyst for change.
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