It is a little unfair. What, with Trump being as dumb as a brick and all. But it is true that experts have been mocking his absurd tweets about California fires, climate change, and water.
The offending tweets:
California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire spreading!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
and
Governor Jerry Brown must allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Can be used for fires, farming and everything else. Think of California with plenty of Water – Nice! Fast Federal govt. approvals.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2018
Some of the counter tweets can be found on this thread:
.@CAL_FIRE says it has "no idea" what Trump's talking about in regards to "bad environmental laws" making California's fires worse.
"We have plenty of water for the firefight. The Mendocino complex is next to Clear Lake and the Carr fire has the Whiskeytown Lake and Lake Shasta" https://t.co/Gy0uNx3xiK— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) August 6, 2018
And from California water expert, Peter Gleick:
Ok. I know something about this.
This is gobbledygook bullshit.
California's forests and rangelands aren't dry & burning because of CA's water policies. There's no shortage of water to fight fires. And the little #water still flowing in rivers to the sea isn't wasted. https://t.co/2f1mljxDNW— Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) August 5, 2018
and
Trump doubles down on his previous ignorant tweet about California #water and fires. The only water that reaches the ocean these days is what's left AFTER the massive diversions OUT of our rivers for cities and farms. And there's no shortage of fire-fighting water. Nuts. https://t.co/xWFeuoKv54
— Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) August 6, 2018
RL Miller of Climate Hawks Vote added these:
Let's try to explain #cawater to @realDonaldTrump at his level. Is this diagram too complicated? pic.twitter.com/mk26Fr12tw
— RL Miller (@RL_Miller) August 6, 2018
here's an easier picture. In Cal, we store wet in a high place. We call it "snow." When the world warms, we have this kind of #cawater: pic.twitter.com/O88S9OxWhT
— RL Miller (@RL_Miller) August 6, 2018
Think Progress covers the melee here.
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That is almost a new level of stupid, but his levels of stupidity are so high they are almost un-rankable.
Still, I’m sure some moron will show up trying to defend his comments.
There were some articles recently about CA forestry policy, which has allowed the trees to crowd, and so easier for fires to spread than when forest was thinned out as compared to today. I think that is what Trump was referring to.
As for the water, it is my understanding that the rain water is diverted, via concrete, to the ocean, rather than being captured. I suspect that is what Trump might have been referring to.
I don’t think Trumps two tweets in this area are that stupid – there is something to both of them.
Here is an example article on the fire issue:
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/12/a-century-of-fire-suppression-is-why-california-is-in-flames/
BINGO!
Hmmm – that was weird. RickA is Anonymous above (not LiD).
Hmmm – that was weird. RickA is Anonymous above (not LiD).
Emily Atkin has a reasonable explanation for Trump’s tweets:
“Some reporters have speculated that Trump is referring to endangered species protections—most importantly, the federal Endangered Species Act. These laws prohibit farmers and other industrial sources from taking lots of water from certain rivers and streams, in order to protect the habitats of endangered fish. Trump is currently seeking to dramatically weaken the Endangered Species Act, so it’s possible he wanted to bolster his administration’s case by linking the federal law to wildfires.
But I think Trump’s tweets reference something more specific: His administration’s escalating attempts to prevent California from regulating its own water systems.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/150409/trump-blaming-californias-wildfires-water
In other words, when states implement the Republican agenda, we support states’ rights. When they don’t, we don’t.
Yup, but remember, no matter how blatant Trump’s lies are, two things work in his favor.
– There will always be loyal supporters willing to lie on their own and support what he says (see above foe evidence)
– The people who explain why the things he says are wrong will be dismissed as “elitists” due to their knowledge and education, and being referred to as experts
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/experts-reject-trump-claim-california-water-policies-hurt-firefighting-n898101?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark