Biden discusses wildfires, collaboration during California trip
In the past two weeks, President Joe Biden has traveled to Louisiana, New Jersey and New York to assess natural disaster damages.
On Monday afternoon, he added California to the list, traveling to the West Coast for the first time as president. He landed at Mather Airport in Sacramento, where he met with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faced a recall election Tuesday.
While in California, Biden took an aerial tour of wildfire damage in the northern part of the state, spoke about climate change and his infrastructure plan, and then flew with Newsom to Long Beach to campaign for Newsom Monday night.
Biden recently approved a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for El Dorado County to assist state, tribal and local governments with Caldor Fire emergency response and recovery costs.
This follows the Presidential Emergency Declaration California secured earlier this month to support the Caldor Fire response, as well as a previous Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to support counties impacted by the Dixie and River fires.
In addition to the aerial tour of wildfire damage, both Biden and Newsom were briefed on the Caldor Fire by CAL Office of Emergency Services director Mark Ghilarducci, CAL FIRE Director Thom Porter, and U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region Jennifer Eberlien.
After the president and governor returned to Mather Airport, they spoke before the media about wildfires and climate change mitigation efforts, contrasting the previous administration’s stance on the matter.
“California’s leadership has been challenged in the last four years but those headwinds now are tailwinds with the Biden administration,” Newsom said. “We are not sparring partners; we are working partners as it relates to issues of climate change and dealing with challenges brought by wildfires.”
“Everyone in Northern California knows the time of the year when you can’t go outside, when the air will be filled with smoke and the sky will turn an apocalyptic shade of orange,” Biden said. “Thus far, nationwide, over 44,000 wildfires have burned nearly 5,300,000 acres, roughly the size of the state of New Jersey.”
“In California this year, more than 2.2 million acres have burned, the Dixie Fire burned nearly 1 million alone,” he said. “We’re working closely with Gov. Newsom to make sure California has every resource, every resource available to keep families safe.”
The president’s Build Back Better plan “includes billions of dollars for wildfire preparedness, resilience and response, forest management to restore millions of acres, and protect homes and public water sources,” he said.