Above all, I hope that we all learn the lesson that we should always choose competence and merit, over our tribal preferences. It is fine to have a beer or to watch a football game with people we identify with. But for things that matter, like who will be governor, mayor, or head of the water department, we need to choose people with proven track records in delivering results. Quoting Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, "It does not matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice".
These fires are just a cascading systems failure of decades of government - at all levels - failing to plan and anticipate the inevitable. I am from Texas where you can feel the lack of government services and the weight of that when disasters happen. I am pretty shocked to see that in CA, which has far more functional and sophisticated government planning, these basic mistakes pile up.
Unfortunately I think the next 4 years will add to the chaos as the federal government has a critical role in shaping these kinds of infrastructure services. I wonder what will happen in CA politically now.
BTW, would be interesting to look at utilities as a key node experiencing constant systems failure particularly in CA.
It's hard to imagine that the next four years at the Federal level can be any worse than the last four decades in California. But who knows?
I like your suggestion about looking at utilities. Another good thing to do study would be education. The failure of California K-12 schools is only exceeded than the incompetence of the University of California system (of which I am an alum). What used to be the crown jewel of the state is in complete disarray.
Even when climate change experts are forecasting the LA fires as a plausible and foreseeable worst-case scenario, we do nothing to mitigate, much less avoid, the scenario. We continue to build in the same way, with the same density, in the same precarious fire-sensitive places, with the same known deficits, without adequate fire-mitigation protections. And when the entirely foreseeable shit hits the proverbial fan, we are shocked, simply shocked (a la _Casablanca’s_ Captain Renault, “I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”).
At some point, we as a species are going to have to prioritize the mitigation of long-term risks against the momentary benefits of short term luxuries.
Thanks, Claude. You are right. And the leaders of the community need to be thoughtful about where they spend their time and how they conduct themselves.
I agree with the frustration in current political leadership. However, the real problem that needs to be solved is retrofitting current homes and buildings to be more fire resistant. Pacific Palisades is not crazy dense, but it is comprised of many older structures. When a burning ember from a Eucalyptus tree ( which can travel 2 miles) meets up with eaves made of wood from 70-90 years ago, only bad things happen. Retrofitting includes: fire retardant siding, no wood exposed eaves, fire treated windows, and a variety of roof treatments and landscaping mitigation. From a political perspective, how will this work? How many incentives must be introduced to ensure that millions of home can take these steps in the next 5 years. New construction requirements already exist to deal with, and that is where Kudos to the politicians should be given.
Thanks for your comment, Steve. I agree with you. I would suggest it is all about the "and" -- we have ensure that there is new construction (easy to build) and that old construction has incentives to upgrade.
And there needs to be enough water in the pipes when a fire hits. And there needs to be reservoirs built to hold that water that runs into the oceans. And, and, and....
None of these solutions are rocket science -- and we know what will come. Leadership should focus on getting stuff done and conducting themselves correctly when it matters. They need to lead when there is no crisis (policy) and when there is (know what to do and be worthy of sitting in the chair).
Above all, I hope that we all learn the lesson that we should always choose competence and merit, over our tribal preferences. It is fine to have a beer or to watch a football game with people we identify with. But for things that matter, like who will be governor, mayor, or head of the water department, we need to choose people with proven track records in delivering results. Quoting Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, "It does not matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice".
These fires are just a cascading systems failure of decades of government - at all levels - failing to plan and anticipate the inevitable. I am from Texas where you can feel the lack of government services and the weight of that when disasters happen. I am pretty shocked to see that in CA, which has far more functional and sophisticated government planning, these basic mistakes pile up.
Unfortunately I think the next 4 years will add to the chaos as the federal government has a critical role in shaping these kinds of infrastructure services. I wonder what will happen in CA politically now.
BTW, would be interesting to look at utilities as a key node experiencing constant systems failure particularly in CA.
It's hard to imagine that the next four years at the Federal level can be any worse than the last four decades in California. But who knows?
I like your suggestion about looking at utilities. Another good thing to do study would be education. The failure of California K-12 schools is only exceeded than the incompetence of the University of California system (of which I am an alum). What used to be the crown jewel of the state is in complete disarray.
Could not agree more.
Thank you, Gen!
Rob,
We humans are a strange lot.
Even when climate change experts are forecasting the LA fires as a plausible and foreseeable worst-case scenario, we do nothing to mitigate, much less avoid, the scenario. We continue to build in the same way, with the same density, in the same precarious fire-sensitive places, with the same known deficits, without adequate fire-mitigation protections. And when the entirely foreseeable shit hits the proverbial fan, we are shocked, simply shocked (a la _Casablanca’s_ Captain Renault, “I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”).
At some point, we as a species are going to have to prioritize the mitigation of long-term risks against the momentary benefits of short term luxuries.
Claude
For the foreseeability of all this, check out
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna186887
Or
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/los-angeles-shouldnt-rebuild-the-same-way-after-wildfires.html
Thanks, Claude. You are right. And the leaders of the community need to be thoughtful about where they spend their time and how they conduct themselves.
Or not. It's a choice they make.
I agree with the frustration in current political leadership. However, the real problem that needs to be solved is retrofitting current homes and buildings to be more fire resistant. Pacific Palisades is not crazy dense, but it is comprised of many older structures. When a burning ember from a Eucalyptus tree ( which can travel 2 miles) meets up with eaves made of wood from 70-90 years ago, only bad things happen. Retrofitting includes: fire retardant siding, no wood exposed eaves, fire treated windows, and a variety of roof treatments and landscaping mitigation. From a political perspective, how will this work? How many incentives must be introduced to ensure that millions of home can take these steps in the next 5 years. New construction requirements already exist to deal with, and that is where Kudos to the politicians should be given.
Thanks for your comment, Steve. I agree with you. I would suggest it is all about the "and" -- we have ensure that there is new construction (easy to build) and that old construction has incentives to upgrade.
And there needs to be enough water in the pipes when a fire hits. And there needs to be reservoirs built to hold that water that runs into the oceans. And, and, and....
None of these solutions are rocket science -- and we know what will come. Leadership should focus on getting stuff done and conducting themselves correctly when it matters. They need to lead when there is no crisis (policy) and when there is (know what to do and be worthy of sitting in the chair).