What have you heard about the LA wildfires so far?
“I’ve heard that the LA wildfires have destroyed a lot of property and ended multiple lives, but I haven’t read into it in my own time.” –– Sophia Doan, 9
“I’ve heard that [the LA wildfires have] been pretty big and they’ve lasted [for a] rather long time. I also heard that … the government [didn’t do] a super good job of trying to prevent it, as I heard the LA government … kind of took some of the funds that were meant for wildfires and allocated it to other places, which I don’t think was a good decision.” –– MSJ Green Club Co-Activities Coordinator Junior Scarlett Xu
What actions do you think the government has taken to mitigate the disaster so far? How effective do you think the emergency response has been to the wildfires?
“I know that state governments, especially the CA government, have cooperated with one another and LA’s municipal governments to contain the wildfires. However, I also know that during Donald Trump’s visit to CA, he threatened to withdraw wildfire FEMA resources if CA did not enact his voter ID laws.” –– Sihan Zhang, 10
“I’ve heard that the government is using firefighters to combat the wildfires. They seem to be setting up evacuation centers for those who had to leave their homes. It looks like they might be distributing supplies like food and water to those affected. While I’m not certain about the effectiveness of these efforts, it appears they are doing their best to manage the fires and ensure people’s safety. But I am still not that pleased because these fires happen very often and I don’t think they have really solved the problem yet.” — Swarit Agrawal, 10
“So far I know the government has sent firefighters across the country to mitigate the disaster and also employed prison labor to also help fight fires. The emergency response has not been great but a situation like this is definitely hard to handle when meager fuel is scattered throughout the area and warm Santa Ana winds are supplying the fires with high levels of oxygen as well as spreading them.” — Advai Srinivasan, 12
“I don’t like how the government kind of [reallocated] some of the funds for the wildfires and instead used them for other things. But I think in other aspects, the government has done a good job. They’ve done a good job of telling people to evacuate, and I believe they sometimes provided safe spaces and emergency supplies for the people. But I hope that in the future, they can realize that wildfires are really big threat, especially in such a place as CA, where wildfires are pretty common, and hope that next time they can do a better job of using their money to work with nearby agencies to try to prevent wildfires or to … spot the signs of wildfires [earlier].” –– MSJ Green Club Co-Activities Coordinator Junior Scarlett Xu
What have been your primary sources for information on the wildfires (social media, TV news channels, newspapers, etc.)? How effective do you think these sources have been in providing relevant and timely information?
“I’ve heard about the LA wildfires from families and friends and also donated to a donation drive for the LA fires held by a Model UN conference I attended recently. But I’ve primarily received information through social media. While I don’t think social media is a reliable source of information since content creators tend to exaggerate things knowing their viewers won’t fact-check them, I think it does a good job at increasing awareness on matters, and quickly as well, given the rapidness of the algorithm.” –– Sophia Doan, 9
“I think my primary sources have been the local news channels, and I think they’ve been doing a good job of providing information about the wildfires.” –– MSJ Green Club Co-Activities Coordinator Junior Scarlett Xu
“I got most of my information from social media and Google news sources which can be good for overviews but often miss important details.” — Aravind Muralidharan, 11
What do you think is the impact of climate change on the wildfires? Have you personally been affected by wildfires? Do you think climate change is making wildfires worse? If so, what can governments do to mitigate that disaster and respond adequately?
“I think climate change has drastically increased the amount and severity of wildfires and other extreme weather events. I have been personally affected by wildfires especially during the first year of COVID with the yellow skies and I think that the government should do a lot more to combat climate change since addressing wildfires requires both a short and long term approach. I think that Trump’s reversal of the US’ environmental policies is only going to exacerbate this crisis.” –– Sihan Zhang, 10
“I truly believe that climate change is fueling wildfires. It seems like each year, the fires grow larger. I’ve read that rising temperatures and drier conditions ignite fires and also help in spreading these fires. I haven’t been personally impacted by wildfires. I know people who have had to evacuate or have lost their homes. To address this issue, governments could prioritize reducing pollution and transitioning to cleaner energy sources.” — Swarit Agrawal, 10
“Climate change definitely increases natural disasters, and not just by increasing temperatures but by exacerbating the severity and range of weather. The government by itself is not sufficient to tackle climate change as a whole but can continue to fund climate sequestration and mitigation research. For wildfires in particular, our government needs to acknowledge the impact of climate change and prepare cities to be protected from natural disasters, which I believe is happening with funds like California Residential Mitigation Program’s seismic retrofit grant for house owners.” –– MSJ Youth4Climate Co-Vice President Junior Angel Li
“I know that climate change creates drier environments that are more susceptible to wildfires. Of course, this worsens the spread of wildfires and its effects. I think the government should allocate more resources to fire departments to ensure a timely response to these emergencies. I have not been personally affected by the wildfires.” –– Sophia Doan, 9
“I think climate change has caused wildfires and just other natural disasters in general to happen far more frequently, and also at a much higher scale, especially because climate change is where greenhouse gases … trap heat in the atmosphere. That just honestly makes it easier for wildfires to get to such a great degree, as we saw in the LA wildfires. I think what the government can do is … controlled fires. Sometimes they have to purposely start fires to clear away vegetation so that when there are large wildfires, they don’t have as much to feed off of. What the government can do is better inform people that ‘Oh, this place might be prone to wildfires,’ and they can … tell communities to kind of plan for more fire-resistant homes … The government should even work with local environmental agencies to kind of create or implement plans to prevent wildfires.” –– MSJ Green Club Co-Activities Coordinator Junior Scarlett Xu
What actions should local authorities take to prevent future wildfires?
“I’m not sure how much power local authorities have in preventing future wildfires with a lack of funding, but individuals have the ability to advocate for better funding, which I think has been spurred by the recent incident.”
–– Sophia Doan, 9
“Local authorities … should not be afraid to tell people that their homes might be in more fire-prone areas, and [they] should try to advocate for homes to … use more fire-resistant materials. For example, … they can use more fire-resistant materials like stone or concrete, rather than wood. Local authorities should try to inform people [that they should] try to use more renewable sources of energy and also make sure to turn off electronic appliances when they’re not using them, and [they should] make sure to tell people … [to] put out fires correctly, because a lot of fires have been caused by people not putting out campfires correctly, or people not putting out matches or cigarettes correctly.” –– MSJ Green Club Co-Activities Coordinator Junior Scarlett Xu
Have you heard about the CA government’s plans to pass legislation that allows people to file lawsuits against fossil fuel companies for climate change? Do you think fossil fuel companies should be held responsible for wildfire damages?
“This sounds very legally ambiguous. Although the intentions behind this legislation are noble, the reality of implementing such a proposal has dubious legality. Instead of pursuing such a solution, I think that the state government should focus on traditional legislative and advocacy-based methods of encouraging fossil fuel companies to decrease emissions.” –– Sihan Zhang, 10
“I’ve come across some information about CA’s intention to allow individuals to sue fossil fuel companies for their role in climate change. It appears they are aiming to hold these companies accountable for contributing to wildfires and other disasters linked to global warming. This approach seems smart, because these companies have profited a lot while neglecting the harm they’ve caused.” — Swarit Agrawal, 10
“I don’t think fossil fuel companies are responsible for climate change since they exist because of demand and are simply doing the economical thing in a capitalist society. Instead of blaming, different sectors globally like government, business, and science need to work together to find solutions that are economically advantageous as well. There has also been research showing that the largest climate footprints are not from normal households like ours, but from the top percentages of wealth, so that could be a different angle to the problem.” –– MSJ Youth4Climate Co-Vice President Junior Angel Li
“I feel like [whether fossil fuel companies are responsible for wildfire damages] depends because a lot of times, fossil fuel companies are contributing to the climate change crisis, but there are times where wildfires are just caused by normal people being irresponsible … I think that fossil fuel companies should be held responsible [for climate change]. A lot of big manufacturing companies or industry companies burn a lot of fossil fuels, and oftentimes, the government tells people, ‘Oh, it’s your fault for causing climate change.’ But in reality, the carbon footprint that people have is just a tiny fraction of what these big companies are doing. So yeah, for sure, big companies should be held responsible.” –– MSJ Green Club Co-Activities Coordinator Junior Scarlett Xu
“No, since it’s not really their fault; arguably the city of LA should be sued because their budget cuts to the fire department led the firefighting response to be spread thin. Increasing global variability has strengthened winds and exacerbated the fire but the source of that is not completely fossil fuel emissions. Carbon dioxide comes from a lot of places, and as a whole we should be taxing sectors for the amount of damage they cause by pumping pollutants into the atmosphere. I do think we should go after the fuel companies for other things, such as the increased amount of people with respiratory health issues and Parkinson’s disease due to the companies’ actions. But for the fires, I think people are looking for someone to blame and right now if there was anyone to sue it would be the CA government for their negligence in not adequately funding departments.” — Advai Srinivasan, 12
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