by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe

Environmentalists sued to halt critical forest thinning as California is on fire again

The Oak Fire, which is raging near Yosemite National Park right now, was sparked as firefighters were battling the Washburn Fire. The Washburn Fire, more than 1,500-acres, broke out in the Mariposa Grove, home to more than 500 mature giant sequoias, which have been saved thanks to previous forest thinning and management, and fuel (tinder) reduction treatments.

Numerous residential and commercial properties been destroyed. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency in Mariposa County.

The Associated Press acknowledged that the Oak Fire “burned out of control through tinder-dry forest on Sunday and had grown into one of California’s biggest blazes of the year, forcing thousands of residents to flee remote mountain communities.”

Yet further down in the article, they claimed the underlying cause was climate change:

“California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.”

At least they acknowledged that weather plays a part.

Read More.