President-elect Trump accuses Gov. Gavin Newsom of caring more about protecting endangered fish species than protecting the state’s residents from wildfires, and are Democrats to blame for California’s wildfires? This sparked a heated debate.
The president-elect has long criticized California Democrats for restricting Californians’ access to water from northern California’s Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Mr. Trump stumbled on the issue during his 2016 campaign, and in his first term sought to divert more water from the delta, where two rivers meet and is home to an endangered fish known as the smelt. .
But Newsom and his administration challenged that in court, arguing that opinions suggesting the diversion would not affect fish were false. Newsom also previously opposed efforts to build a pipeline to divert water south. He has overseen the state’s program to release hundreds of billions of gallons of rainwater collected in the Sacramento-San Jaoquin River delta each year to benefit smelt habitat, but he has also directed the water southward and into the middle. It was not made available to people in the South. state.
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An image of a Delta smelt being kept alive in the hatchery at the University of California, Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory in Byron, California. (Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
President Trump sparked a firestorm on Wednesday when he accused Newsom on the Truth social platform of wanting to “protect fish that are inherently worthless” rather than protecting Californians’ water needs. However, this comment is not new. In the run-up to the November election, President Trump made this claim in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan in October.
“I was in [California] “When we drive down the highway, we say, ‘Why is this land so barren?'” Logan said. It was farmland and it was awful. It was just brown and no good. I said, “But there’s a little corner that’s always very green.” They said, “There’s no water.” I said, “Is there a drought?” “No, there is no drought.” I said, “Why is there no water?” Because the water doesn’t drain away. And in order to protect the tiny little fish, the northern ocean flows into the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water are poured into it. ”
Dry, cracked soil in an irrigation ditch next to a cornfield on a farm in central California. (Robin Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Catastrophic wildfires in California have killed at least five people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. The Palisades fire alone burned more than 17,000 acres, an area larger than Manhattan Island. The damage caused so far is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
The president-elect’s claims, coupled with reports that firefighters are running low on water as they fight the blaze, are prompting states to mobilize resources to replenish empty supplies.
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“There’s no water in the Palisades. There’s no water coming out of the fire hydrants. This is complete mismanagement on the part of the city. It’s not the firefighters’ fault, it’s the city’s fault,” he said after losing the showdown with Karen Bass. says millionaire developer Rick Caruso. He spoke to Fox News about the 2022 mayoral race.
California firefighters battle raging wildfires. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The governor’s press office responded to Trump’s accusations by saying he was completely wrong, saying the president-elect “confuses two completely unrelated things: transporting water to Southern California and distributing it from local reservoirs.” “I do,” he claimed.
“Broadly speaking, there is no water shortage in Southern California at this time, despite President Trump’s claims that he will open an imaginary hydrant,” Newsom’s office added. ”[The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] Due to high demand for water, lower-elevation pumping stations do not have sufficient pressure replenishment tanks at higher elevations, and the ongoing fire is preventing crews from accessing the pumps, he said. As a side note, they used water trucks to provide water, a common tactic in wildland firefighting operations. ”
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Firefighters in California made progress Thursday toward slowing the spread of the fire, according to the Associated Press. Crews reportedly successfully extinguished a fire that broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, and evacuation orders were lifted for the area by Thursday. According to reports, the fires were still burning and most were only partially extinguished as of Thursday afternoon.
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