I am not a forestry major but it seems to me like burning the forest is part of a natural cycle. I know AL has fire breaks in the forest and does controlled burns to keep the vegetation down. They also log in AL which I am sure helps as well.
I am serious about proving me wrong. I am sure there is some good evidence going against this and I am curious what some more educated forestry folks might know.
This article is an interesting take and something I had never thought of was how regulations play a role. Did you know that that wild fires don't count as emissions for emissions control purposes but if you do a controlled burn it does?
From the article:
Ebell also faulted the Forest Service for banning firefighting during the night – when temperatures are cooler. He also noted that federal regulations disincentivize controlled burns, one of the best ways to reduce fuel in a forest. While fires do not count as emissions under the Clean Air Act, controlled burns do.
Steve Milloy, a former Trump-Pence EPA transition member and founder of JunkScience.com, compared the carbon emissions from the California fires with the carbon emissions that California has decreased through its cap-and-trade system since 2012.
The cap-and-trade system – which Milloy noted, "cost consumers and businesses billions and billions of dollars" – reduced emissions by approximately 180 million tons. Yet California wildfires have emitted approximately 280 million tons since 2012.
"Perhaps the greatest emitter in California is government failure," Milloy quipped. "If California is worried about emissions, perhaps it might want to start by managing these forest fires."
www.foxnews.com
I am serious about proving me wrong. I am sure there is some good evidence going against this and I am curious what some more educated forestry folks might know.
This article is an interesting take and something I had never thought of was how regulations play a role. Did you know that that wild fires don't count as emissions for emissions control purposes but if you do a controlled burn it does?
From the article:
Ebell also faulted the Forest Service for banning firefighting during the night – when temperatures are cooler. He also noted that federal regulations disincentivize controlled burns, one of the best ways to reduce fuel in a forest. While fires do not count as emissions under the Clean Air Act, controlled burns do.
Steve Milloy, a former Trump-Pence EPA transition member and founder of JunkScience.com, compared the carbon emissions from the California fires with the carbon emissions that California has decreased through its cap-and-trade system since 2012.
The cap-and-trade system – which Milloy noted, "cost consumers and businesses billions and billions of dollars" – reduced emissions by approximately 180 million tons. Yet California wildfires have emitted approximately 280 million tons since 2012.
"Perhaps the greatest emitter in California is government failure," Milloy quipped. "If California is worried about emissions, perhaps it might want to start by managing these forest fires."
How federal regulation, not climate change, explains California's wildfire crisis: experts
Democrats like President Joe Biden often point to California's devastating wildfires as evidence of climate change, but center-right policy experts claim that federal regulation and poor forest management, not climate change, best explain the fiery devastation in the Golden State.
