Science shows that climate change has contributed to bigger and more intense fires across the Western United States over the past few decades.
Changing rain and snow patterns, ecological shifts, and increasing heat mean that fires happen more often, start sooner, and burn more intensely and widely than in the past. This year could be the most intense wildfire year in modern history. Fires are already burning in California, Arizona, New Mexico and six other states. Twelve large fires have burned nearly 48,000 acres.
It’s not hard to connect the dots: Drilling, fracking, and burning oil and gas drive climate chaos and intensify extreme weather disasters.
Our country is burning in supercharged wildfires, and drowning in record hurricanes and floods fueled by climate change. Yet rather than doing everything possible to avoid more devastation, the federal government has been allowing more drilling, fracking, pipelines, fracked gas power plants and petrochemical facilities — all of which are massive drivers of climate change.
While the Biden administration took a step forward earlier this year to pause new leases for drilling and fracking on federal lands and waters, new drilling and fracking permits are still being issued on existing leases. This action needs to be followed by a strong plan to permanently ban all dirty energy extraction on public lands.
At a time when climate instability is becoming a threat for millions of communities across our nation and planet, we can’t — and we won’t — let the fossil fuel industry continue business as usual.We are ready to fight.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
