Dear John,
The wildfires in southern California this week have been devastating and heartbreaking.
Thousands of homes, grocery stores, libraries, churches, and schools have been reduced to cinder.
As of Sunday, at least 16 people have been pronounced dead. Nearly 180,000 have been ordered to evacuate, watching on in horror as their livelihoods and memories are threatened and destroyed. 36,000 total acres of land and entire neighborhoods — wiped out. And with relief efforts ongoing and more high winds in the forecast, all of these are numbers that may rise.
It is already projected to be the most expensive set of fires in United States history.1
California is used to wildfires. But the severity of disasters like these has been increasing dramatically over the past few years, alongside shifts in weather patterns. Scientists have been warning the world about these kinds of disasters for DECADES — disasters that have been increasing in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change, corporate greed, and political inaction.2
Meanwhile, at moments like these when we depend on accurate and reliable information, social media platforms have engineered their algorithms to help right-wing conspiracy theories spread as fast as the fires themselves.3
We know we are all strongest in moments of crisis when we come together and show up for each other.
That’s why we put together a donation page that splits up your contribution between various on-the-ground funds and relief organizations, to help the people who need it the most. Please pitch in today, if you can.
Contribute »
But as we show up for each other in this moment, that doesn’t mean letting go of our righteous anger at the events playing out before us in community after community.
Global fossil fuel corporations and the politicians they bankroll have spent decades lying to working people about the increasingly devastating effects of their industry on climate change.4 And even as the scale of disasters like these increase before our eyes, they’re choosing to double down — spewing wild conspiracy theories rather than admit the truth.
We know that when climate disaster strikes, it's always working families who take the brunt of it. It’s our job to stand with each other in these moments of crisis, and then to rebuild and keep organizing to build a better future for our families.
Please take care of yourselves and loved ones. And if you’re in a position to do so, make a donation to help wildfire victims get the help and resources they desperately need.
With love and solidarity,
Working Families Party
Sources:
1. Los Angeles wildfires already pegged as costliest blaze in U.S. history, Washington Post, January 10, 2025
2. ‘We’re in a New Era’: How Climate Change Is Supercharging Disasters, New York Times, January 10, 2025
3. US right wing fans misinformation fires as firefighters battle Los Angeles blazes, The Guardian, January 10, 2025
4. Big Oil has been lying about its role in climate change for decades, a congressional report says, Quartz, May 1, 2024
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