Hawaii Democratic Governor Josh Green pointed to “global warming” and agreed with claims that climate change “amplified” the devastating string of human errors that hampered firefighters’ efforts to battle the inferno that swept through Maui, leaving at least 110 people dead.
Green urged all “cities and states” to devote their resources not to fixing faulty power lines or to ensuring that water supplies and warning sirens are utilized, but to combatting climate change “to prevent disasters like we are seeing here.”
CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margret Brennan asked Green on Sunday, “So just to be clear, when you’re talking about global warming, are you saying climate change amplified the cost of human error?”
“Yes,” Green replied. “It did.”
(Video: YouTube)
While no official cause for the fire has been determined at this time, as BizPac Review reported, Hawaiian Electric admitted in 2019 that it needed to do more the keep its power lines from throwing sparks.
The company, which supplies 95% of locals with their power, spent just $245,000 on wildfire-safety improvements, instead choosing to pursue renewable-energy projects.
And, after declining to activate the island’s warning alarm to alert the people of the blaze raging around them, Administrator Herman Andaya, the head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, handed in his resignation.
Maui emergency services chief RESIGNS following backlash for not activating alert sirens https://t.co/AplZxkUPEP via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 18, 2023
And then there was the issue of water to douse the flames.
According to Fox News Digital, “The West Maui Land Company, which manages several agricultural and residential subdivisions along with water jurisdictions, alleged on Friday that it requested to divert water to fight the wildfires on the day they began but were delayed several hours.”
“According to the company,” the outlet reports, “the Commission On Water Resource Management had to clear the decision with local farmers before acting.”
Green acknowledged that decisions made “in the moment” weren’t “perfect,” but suggested it wouldn’t have been so difficult if it weren’t for climate change.
‘Bet they all know their pronouns though’: Maddening revelations grow surrounding Maui officials https://t.co/I5sg4BZdAv via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 17, 2023
“There’s always going to be incredible things that people do to save lives from the firefighters, from the citizens. And there are always decisions made that I’m sure aren’t perfect in the moment,” he said. “But when you have fire that moved more than a mile a minute, and what happened, I’m told by some of the survivors, they were at the initial fire, it was put out sometime late in the afternoon in Lahaina, and then the firefighters had to go to three other fires that started because of the conditions.”
“There’s no excuses ever to be made,” he added, “but there are finite resources sometimes in the moment.”
According to Green, whether power lines sparked the initial fires is currently under review, but that appeared secondary to his desire to further the climate change agenda.
“It’s not to excuse anything else from any company,” he said. “It’s just to explain what the world should prepare for. I humbly ask all of the cities and states to spend that money now to prevent disasters like we are seeing here.”
“For perspective, we’ve had six fire emergencies this August. We had six fire emergencies between 1953 and 2003,” the governor said earlier in the segment. “That’s how fast things are changing. I know that there is debate out there whether we should be talking about climate change or not. Let’s be real, world. Climate change is here. We are in the midst of it with a hotter planet and fiercer storms.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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