STEVE HILTON: You can smell the smoke and the rage in LA. California can change. Now it begins
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IN Los Angeles right now, it’s not just acrid smoke that’s in the air.
There is fear, anxiety and pain. When will they bring these fires under control? What if the wind picks up? What if my neighborhood is next?
For those who have been evacuated: when can they return? Why won’t they let me take my pet? Or my medicine?
MAPS SHOW DISTRIBUTION OF FIRE, DESTROYED HOUSES
Worst of all, for those who have lost their home, or in a small but tragically growing number of cases, their loved ones, utter despair. And the sense that the people in charge are not responding with the urgency, the energy — or frankly, the empathy — that we expect.
And that brings us to another emotion that is so palpable in LA today: anger.
Fury at a governor who, when faced with shocking revelations about dry fire hydrants and empty tanks, waved his hands and said, “ask the locals.”
Rage at ‘local person’ — Mayor Karen Bass – which, when faced with its failure to prepare for this disaster, its failure to equalize to be in the cityhe simply froze on camera. Bizarre, pathetic two minutes of silence instead of the strong leadership we need.
But those short-term failures to prepare and respond pale in comparison to the relatively insignificant long-term failures that got us to this point.
LOS ANGELES FIRES: SANTA ANA WINDS RETURN THREATEN DEADLY FIRE SPREAD
In March, my new book, ‘Califailure – reversing the downfall of the worst run American state’ will catalog the horrific combination of incompetence and ideological extremism that has left California at the top of every list you’d like to be at the bottom of, and at the bottom of every list you’d like to be at the top of — from the highest poverty rate in the country to the worst business climate; highest housing costs and lowest home ownership. Crime and homelessness out of control. All paid for by the highest taxes in America.
Now, with the disaster in Los Angeles, everyone can see how badly things have gone.
Every aspect of the wildfire crisis was caused or made much worse by Democrat policies and Democrat politicians.
Of course, they try to blame it on “climate change”. But other places with similar climates and similar geography do not seem to suffer in the same way.
In California, environmental extremism has stalled action to manage what is known as “fuel loading” in our forests and chaparral. Thinning of overgrown forest, clearing of thickets and bushes — blocked the wrong policies of the Democrats.
Money that should have been spent on fire prevention has been diverted to ideological obsessions that do nothing to reduce the risk of forest fires, such as electric vehicles.
We keep hearing about the “drought” — but it’s actually mostly man-made. We have all the water we need: we just don’t collect it, store it and take it to the right places.
And in the background of everything, insane rules and regulations, a crazy nanny state, endless armies of bureaucrats and busy people who make it impossible to get anything done, to build the housing and infrastructure we need.
NEWSOM DEFENDS FIRE RESPONSE WITH FACT CHECKING PAGE LINKING TO DEM PARTY FUNDRAISING PLATFORM
Their ‘green’ bureaucracy has even slowed down or blocked vital jobs like burying or insulating power lines that cause fires! How is that good for the environment?
It’s time to stop all this nonsense. It is time for common sense policies and a competent government.
That’s what I focus on. My policy organization in California, Golden Together, has brought together leaders from business, faith communities, firefighting and prevention experts to develop positive, practical ideas about how to help people right now and make sure we’re doing the right things to help in recovery and restore quickly.
Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills is mobilizing churches and places of worship to help displaced families and support our brave (and exhausted) first responders.
We need to remove ridiculous rules that hold back relief and recovery efforts — for example, the absurd ‘climate’ regulations that prevent emergency generators from being brought in from another country to provide power where the supply is cut.
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Let’s get rid of the bureaucracy that binds you in knots of bureaucracy. Governor Gavin Newsom says he wants to “expedite” getting permits to rebuild homes. super! Except: what exactly does he mean by “accelerated”? Can it last more than 120 days? For a permit to rebuild exactly the house that was there before? Everything is very unclear at the moment. But it should be instant!
After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, then-Gov. Pete Wilson — a Republican — overturned the rules and entered into cleanup and construction contracts that helped rebuild the Santa Monica Freeway in 66 days.
I spoke with Governor Wilson. We have incorporated his suggestions into our policy recommendations, along with many practical ideas from home builders and entrepreneurs.
I asked technology leaders in Silicon Valley develop a plan for a new ‘fire brigade’ that will use artificial intelligence, drones and autonomous firefighting vehicles to spot and extinguish potentially dangerous wildfires before they start.
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You can find all this and more in our policy document: To save, to reform, to restore.
It’s time for change in California, and this is the first step.
