The 40th governor of California, Gavin Newsom has announced that his administration is doubling down on an aggressive strategy to combat climate change as the largest wildfire of the year rages across the state.
The governor proclaimed a state of emergency in Mariposa County following the Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park, which has burned through more than 15,600 acres of bone-dry fuel and was A0% contained as of Sunday night.
According to reports, California has secured federal support to help defray the costs of battling the blaze, which as of Sunday was being attacked by nearly 2,100 firefighters.
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While more than 6,000 people were under evacuation orders, nearly 3,000 PG&E customers were facing power outages even as 15 structures had been destroyed or damaged with thousands more threatened.
In a Saturday letter to President Joe Biden, Newsom alluded to complacency at the national level and slammed “uncooperative Republicans and a lone Democrat from a coal-producing state” (West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin) for holding “hostage” parts of Biden’s climate agenda.
The governor also cited a blueprint — released just the day before — to make the state’s ambitious climate plans even more aggressive, as a proof point of what he described as California’s world-leading action on climate.
Story was adapted from Call Matters.
