Californians have suffered enormously through the COVID-19 pandemic, watching as their state became an early hot-spot for the disease, then an early success story, only to have case tallies creep upwards once again before hitting a more recent plateau. As more than 10,000 Californians died from the virus, President Trump focused on the political optics; former close aides say that President Trump suggested ending disaster aid to California because of a lack of electoral college benefit, an account that looks even more suspicious as the president announced that after September, the state will need to contribute to the cost of National Guard Deployments for disasters response — while Florida and Texas will see their costs completely covered.
And now wildfire season has hit — one of the most severe seasons in a history full of severe wildfire seasons. President Trump’s disastrous failure to meet the moment of the pandemic, coupled with his continued refusal to address our climate crisis, has amplified risks for Californians facing another season of devastating, climate change-fueled wildfires. Although firefighters have reported progress against the latest wildfires, risks remain. Here are five ways that the Trump administration’s inaction on these twin disasters is compounded in the Golden State, and how they impact the most vulnerable Americans.
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