As multiple fires continue to decimate tens of thousands of acres around Los Angeles, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., told Newsmax on Tuesday that in the past, "we put out fires before they could explode out of control, but all of those policies were canceled by environmental laws."
As of Tuesday morning, the two main fires ravaging Los Angeles, Palisades and Eaton, have consumed more than 37,000 acres, destroyed over 12,000 structures, killed at least 24 people and forced almost 200,000 others to evacuate their homes. Early estimates with multiple fires still raging have put the damages at more than $250 billion. McClintock said any federal aid should come with conditions "to fix the problem, otherwise we're going to have this happen over and over again."
"This is going to go on until the policies change," McClintock said during an appearance on "National Report." We know how to control fires. We did so throughout the 20th century. By the policies that we adopted, we auctioned off excess timber to logging companies that then paid us to remove the excess. We leased public lands to cattle and sheep ranchers that suppressed brush growth through grazing. We cut fire breaks to contain fires. We used herbicides to keep brush from residential areas. We put out the fires before they could explode out of control. All of those policies were canceled by environmental laws."
The representative from California's 5th congressional district said the results of decades of Democrat rule have returned the Golden State to almost a pre-civilizational mindset.
"You know, prior to the 20th century, we lost about 4.5 million acres a year to catastrophic fire. All of those land use management policies brought those losses down to about a quarter million acres a year throughout the 20th century. But when we stopped these practices because of these environmental laws. Well, in 2020, we went back up to 4.5 million acres of lost land. That's not a new normal. That's the old normal returning," he added.
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James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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