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Viewing homes in Malibu and Pacific Palisades burn down while the fire hydrants ran dry is bad enough, but the knowledge of water shortages resulting from bad bureaucratic decisions makes the horrific scenes even worse.
Water is everywhere in California. The Golden State borders the Pacific Ocean, which contains countless gallons that could be desalinated to fill reservoirs and power fire hydrants.
But California’s bureaucracy is discouraging desalination plants that would guarantee additional water, and no reservoirs have been built with the $2.7 billion approved in 2014.
LOS ANGELES FIRES: ARREST OF CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTER CAUGHT ON VIDEO AS POLICE WARN OF FIREFIGHTERS
Environmentalists prefer to blame climate change for forest fires, just as the ancient Greeks blamed their gods when things went wrong. It’s shifting responsibility, not looking in the mirror.
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/AP)
Fire acres burned on federal lands from 1916 to the mid-1940s, when CO2 emissions were lower, were as high as levels in the first decade of the 2000s.
In California, politicians have pushed an agenda to eliminate water, energy, and minerals, which has increased human suffering. The question is how they retain power without the people voting them out.
This is especially true when considering the fire tragedy that water could have prevented.
State agencies that must approve desalination projects include the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Coastal Commission, the California State Land Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the West Coast Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and six coastal regional of the water quality control board. This the system is designed to slow progress.
In addition, approval depends on tribal consultation, environmental justice, consideration of marine life and energy efficiency, among other factors.
California allocated $120 million for desalination projects, compared to $1.4 billion for charging stations and $500 million for electric school buses. The California Air Resources Board has the authority to expedite clean air regulations.
Surely, if California can afford billions of dollars in electric vehicles, the state can afford to fill its reservoirs with water — especially since wildfires are more damaging to the air than gas-powered vehicles?
Countries with a lower GDP than California have no problem building desalination plants. Such plants produce over 7 million cubic meters per day in the United Arab Emirates, about 40% of the country’s drinking water. Kuwait and Oman use desalination for about 90% of their drinking water, and Saudi Arabia’s share of desalinated water is 70%.
More burned cars from the Eaton fire at the Altadena Brake Masters. (Fox News Digital / Ashley Carnahan)
Bahrain recently completed its second desalination plant, with new energy-efficient reverse osmosis technology from France-based Veolia Water Technologies. The factory produces 227,000 cubic meters per day, and it started operating after 22 months.
The problem is that the California government has created a water shortage, just as it has created an energy shortage and a critical mineral shortage.
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California requires 60% of its energy to be produced from renewable sources by 2030, so it has a shortage of energy with high prices. In 2022, the Legislature unanimously passed the Seabed Mining Prevention Act, which prevents the extraction of critical minerals in the sea, leaving America at the mercy of China.
The environmental agenda, which focuses on scarcity rather than abundance, empowers governments to allocate these limited resources. In times of scarcity, people become dependent on the government rather than their own actions.
Water is everywhere in California. The Golden State borders the Pacific Ocean, which contains countless gallons that can be desalinated to fill reservoirs and power fire hydrants.
One of the two homes on his street that survived the 2018 Wolsey Fire in Malibu was owned by Robert Kerbeck, author of “Malibu Burning: The Real Story Behind LA’s Most Devastating Wildfire,” who learned beforehand how to spray his home with fire retardant. and who cut down the bushes that might feed the flames.
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As Kerbeck recently wrote, “We need more water to fight fires, more reservoirs to store water, and more firefighters with the right kind of equipment to fight these huge wind-driven fires.”
California politics is often based on a myth within an enigma, to paraphrase Churchill about the Soviet Union. Californians who have promoted an agenda of energy, water and mineral scarcity for the benefit of the environment should think again. Nature should not be worshiped at such a cost to humans.
