EDITORIAL: California wildfire tweet shows extent of Trump’s heartlessness

Jan. 09--The contrast between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Trump's leadership on California's wildfire crisis couldn't be more stark.

The governor on Tuesday announced he would propose $305 million in new funding as part of his first state budget to expand California's ability to fight wildfires and better alert residents of impending disasters.

Newsom also joined with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in sending a letter to President Trump asking the federal government to double its funding for fire prevention efforts in the three states.

This comes after wildfires last year killed nearly 100 Californians, burned thousands of homes and were responsible for an estimated $30 billion in damages.

President Trump's response? He tweeted Wednesday that he was cutting off FEMA relief funding for California wildfires, potentially leaving thousands without the ability to find temporary housing or start rebuilding their homes.

It's heartless. Even by Trump's standards. No president should play politics with the lives of innocent homeowners.

Trump also apparently fired off the tweet without checking to see if he had authority to block the funding. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, noted Wednesday that Trump's act isn't only mean-spirited, it's also illegal. Lofgren said that under the Stafford Act, which governs FEMA's funding, the president "shall not, in notifying and coordinating with a State ... delay or impede the rapid deployment, use, and distribution of critical resources to victims of a major disaster."

Trump justified his position by saying the wildfires would never happen with proper forest management.

Good grief.

The federal government owns and manages about 60 percent of forestland in California, including the Plumas National Forest where the tragic Camp Fire began. The state owns about 3 percent of California's forests. If Trump were to do the simplest kind of research he would learn that California spent more than $100 million in the last year thinning forests -- including those on federally owned lands -- while the federal government was cutting $2 billion from its forest management budget.

The worst aspect of Trump's approach is that it encourages more divisiveness on an issue that demands collaboration.

In November, we called on Newsom to convene a California summit on wildfires the day after his inauguration. The idea was to bring federal and state leaders together to forge a comprehensive plan that could be implemented in 2019. Additional funding would help, we argued, but what is really needed is a shift in strategy.

The governor did his part Tuesday to get the conversation started. But Trump dropped the equivalent of a wrecking ball on the process, making the potential for meaningful dialogue next to impossible.

Of course, the president wants no part of a conversation about the impact of climate change on California's forests. Nor is he interested in any kind of debate about the best scientific approach to forest management. That would involve building consensus based on facts.

The governor should put the best minds across the country to work on the issue. If the president wants to engage in the conversation in a meaningful way, all the better.

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(c)2019 the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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