From Legal Insurrection

A look at the carbon emissions and destruction of habitat because of the focus on policies based on virtue-signalling and pseudoscience.

Posted by Leslie Eastman

The continuous stream of news from the Great Los Angeles fire is heart-breaking, and the images are gut-wrenching.

And when the smoke clears and the recovery operations begin, I hope that not only do the insidious “Diversity-Equity-Inclusion” policies that led to inept leadership in critical civic positions are jettisoned….but also the “climate crisis” policies are terminated quickly.

To begin with, our elite media continue to press the “consensus” that this fire is the direct result of “climate change”.  For example, this gem is from the Associated Press.

It began with millions of people across the U.S. shivering amid blizzard conditions and frigid air that lasted for days, thanks to a jet stream that slips out of its usual path more often these days. Then, catastrophe in California, with wind-whipped flames taking off in a landscape parched by months of drought to become Los Angeles’ worst-ever wildfires.

To cap it off, major weather monitoring agencies confirmed 2024 as the hottest year in global history. Even more dire, four of the six agencies said it was the first full year Earth went beyond a warming threshold seen as critical to limiting the worst effects of climate change.

Welcome to one wild week of the climate crisis, scientists say. There will be more.

I am delighted to report that this inanity is being ratioed, which gives me hope that this disaster will put a stake in the heart of climate cult pseudoscience.

Actually
Issues with the Santa Inez reservoir, which was supposed to provide water for fighting the Palisades fire, include:

– The reservoir ran out of water very quickly, just 3 hours into firefighting efforts.

– The reservoir normally holds 117 million gallons of water, but… pic.twitter.com/3c26LJXcnc

— Crystal M Stanley (@4freedom1USA) January 12, 2025

Many on social media have been reporting on the area’s arsons and the arrest of those starting fires.

Hey look, it’s Señor Climate Change

pic.twitter.com/sPiosnke42

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 12, 2025

I guess the term “climate change” might be correct if it means poor decisions being made by virtue-signalling eco-activists.

It wasn’t a partisan impasse that didn’t upgrade water collection & firefighting infrastructure for decades, ignore forest management, empty reservoirs during fire season, or cut funds to first responders. https://t.co/PkhjvkjTch

— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) January 11, 2025

I have touched on several disastrous decisions made by local and state leaders already, and blog space is limited. There will be a whole catalog of failures to analyze, and thanks to X.com, the elite media can no longer protect its preferred bureaucrats.

In this piece, I would like to note how all of these climate-cult choices have utterly ruined the natural environment and wildlife habitats in the Greater Los Angeles area.

To begin with, California has been leading the charge on electrical vehicle mandates and ending the use of fossil fuels, because human emissions of carbon dioxide (a life-essential trace gas found in trace amounts within the atmosphere) are supposedly causing “global warming”.

Instead of focusing on water infrastructure, revising forest management choices, or funding fire departments, bureaucrats focused on nanny-state rules. As a result, millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent have been released into the atmosphere.

I would like to share some numbers to put it in perspective: The 2020 California fire season released approximately 127 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Those fires completely wiped away any emissions savings.

A nearly two-decade effort by Californians to cut their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide may have been erased by a single, devastating year of wildfires, according to UCLA and University of Chicago researchers.

The state’s record-breaking 2020 fire season, which saw more than 4 million acres burn, spewed almost twice the tonnage of greenhouse gases as the total amount of carbon dioxide reductions made since 2003, according to a study published recently in the journal Environmental Pollution.

Researchers estimated that about 127 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent were released by the fires, compared with about 65 million metric tons of reductions achieved in the previous 18 years.

The Great Los Angeles Fire is still burning, so I don’t have a final number to share with you. However, because it is an urban fire, carbon dioxide isn’t the only emission. The smoke includes toxic cyanide and sulfur compounds, deadly carbon monoxide, and carcinogens.

So, the next time California’s eco-activist regulators want to gut emissions for your SUV or take away your gas stove, tell them to sit back down.

Another aspect of this destruction that has yet to be considered is the horrendous impact on wildlife. Many of the awful policy choices regarding water in this state have been related to protecting fish.

pic.twitter.com/JncSBfP1BD

— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) January 11, 2025

Because of these choices, many of the region’s iconic animal species are now suffering.

Animals try their best to move out of the direct path of the fire while remaining close to home if they cannot find refuge during wildfires, Stephanie Eyes, a senior wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, noted in an October 2022 article.

…”Wildlife is incredibly resilient,” Eyes said, noting that “California has a long history with wildfire, and many species adapted to endure it.”

“When I was working in Yosemite [the national park], there was a female California spotted owl who weathered several wildfires. We were always concerned about her, but she would still be there, year-after-year,” the biologist recalled.

However, during a “high-severity fire,” which burns across a large forest landscape, moving fast and climbing through the tree canopy, finding refuge can be challenging for animals in the wild.

“Wildlife have adapted to deal with smaller fires, and unfortunately, sometimes they can’t escape these recent, big fires,” Eyes said.

Arguably, the Palisades and Eaton fires are “high-intensity”.

🥹 It’s not just humans fleeing the flames. A mountain lion & two cubs are seen on Topanga Canyon Blvd. running away from where the Palisades Fire ravaged hundreds of homes. 💔
[hollywood hills / Beverly Hills / Los Angeles / wildlife ] pic.twitter.com/SCO7w449Rs

— Heart of the streetz 🩶 (@HOTS_twt) January 9, 2025

AN IMPORTANT WORD ABOUT WILDLIFE DISPLACED BY THE LA FIRES. THEY HAVE LOST THEIR HOMES, TOO. #LosAngelesFire #PalisadesFire pic.twitter.com/p4M09vxBAL

— Pamela Version 2.025 ♜☄💈 (@Timpanist) January 10, 2025

Amid the raging wildfires, a firefighter becomes a hero, rescuing a helpless fawn (Deer) from the flames. The exact location and date remain unknown, but this act of courage shines through the devastation.#PalisadesFire #LosAngelesFires #californiafires pic.twitter.com/sNkrdyIvlY

— WarNewsDaily🪖🚨🪖 (@XNews24_7) January 11, 2025

Wildlife Displaced by California Fires

LOS ANGELES, CA: Animals fleeing the California fires are seeking refuge in residential areas, having been displaced from their natural habitats in the mountains and hills. https://t.co/H1XFGMzani pic.twitter.com/vrxEfdTmMJ

— Weather monitor (@Weathermonitors) January 11, 2025

Animals are fleeing the fires in the LA mountains and making their way into residential areas. 😦
Let’s hope there’s some people looking out for them, water if any is left💧🫶
What a disaster! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/HhGocyCyxU

— Epstein’s Sheet. 🧻 (@meantweeting1) January 11, 2025

When Americans supported the Endangered Species Act, these were some of the species they had in mind…not bait fish.

Many supporters of sensible climate science policies have gone into great depth about the realities of climate change because of these fires. However, this is the first time I recall “climate crisis’ propaganda posts being so heavily ratioed.

I hope it is not too late to save the remaining natural areas of beauty in this state.

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