by Pragna Patel
I have been watching the reports of climate change coverages as they come out from the Washington D.C. area. The biggest action, probably, by the administration, is to cancel the Paris agreement. However, given the facts, one can hardly rely on any of the climate change reports from the Department of Interior that are talked about. I have this graphic to illustrate my point.
I have been looking for climate change reports from the Department of Interior which details how many acres of US lands have been damaged by wildfires and thus impacted in terms of lost use (drought/fire), loss of forest cover (drought/fire), potential damage to water supply (water gully or dikes,) and monetary losses (pulpy trees felled.)
Here is what they have said:-
“For the last few years the DOI has assessed what it would cost to clean up costs of forest and brush fires. Among the most interesting results was that if the DOI did not pollute, cleaning up costs of wildfires would be approximately $3.45 billion (2012); if the DOI polluted, it would cost $5.75 billion (2012). The DOI’s report mentions (in paragraph 8) that people and business alike face increased business and property damages if we do not reduce the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. However, they also note (in paragraph 14) that these amounts might fall if deforestation were reduced.”
Agriculture, which has been a main beneficiary of the oil fracking boom, has been a major source of wildfires. Irrigation and forestry are responsible for almost 80 percent of total forest fire losses in the United States annually. The administration has shown itself to be moving away from forest conservation as a viable option for offsetting all of the climate change effects. In addition, the DOI does not acknowledge the rising global temperatures as a problem. How can climate change be detrimental to the environment if the massive flooding rains in cities are due to the climate effect from greenhouse gases?
I have concluded that, due to this position of the administration, the so-called “Interior report” will be silent on the reality of climate change.