What will become of California after the fires
California is the richest state in the United States, but is losing its attractiveness: fires and the cost of living are involved
It's not just a California problem. The great fires that burned over nine thousand square kilometers in the Golden State affect the entire west coast of the United States: about four thousand square kilometers reduced to ashes in Oregon and another two thousand in Washington state. The fires destroyed thousands of homes and entire towns; the air is unbreathable; there are dozens of deaths and a huge number – hundreds of thousands – of displaced people.
THE CAUSES OF FIRE
All the experts have been repeating for days that the fires on the west coast of the United States are not new but a phenomenon that recurs every summer. The same experts, however, specify that this time the situation is more serious than usual and that in recent years the amount of burnt surface is progressively increasing. This has to do with climate change, drought and rising temperatures (in August in Death Valley, California, 54.4 degrees were recorded: this is a possible historical record).
However, other causes are added to the climate crisis. As Francesco Costa explains in This is America (Mondadori, 2020), the wild felling of trees in California since the beginning of the twentieth century, followed by uncontrolled building development and a lack of attention to reforestation and prevention, they ended up favoring the spread of fires. Climate change did the rest.
THE ECONOMIC QUESTION
The west coast fires are also an economic problem for the United States, which is already facing the worst crisis since the Great Depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with record contractions in GDP and spikes in the unemployment rate.
Between burned houses, property insurance losses and business damage, the impact of the California fires could exceed the $ 13 billion record set in 2017. But it's still too early to estimate. But probably – given the general crisis context – the devastation caused by the fires will have economic consequences that will last for years.
The fires in California have already opened a debate on the risks of the energy transition to renewable sources due to the problems encountered by the electricity grid .
WHAT WILL BECOME CALIFORNIA
Beyond the political clash between President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden – a clash that is part of the election campaign ahead of the November 3 presidential elections -, the question of fires is extremely relevant for the future of California.
It is the most populous and richest state in the United States, as well as the center of American technological innovation (there are the headquarters of Apple, Google, Facebook) and the film industry (Hollywood). Firmly democratic, he presents himself as the herald of progressivism and social inclusion . But California is also the state where the cost of living is very high, where houses often have inaccessible prices and where entrepreneurs have to comply with many rules (and taxes). Plus, there are wildfires, extreme weather and poor air quality, especially in Los Angeles.
The Golden State is thus losing its attractiveness. From 2007 to 2016, one million Californians fled the state to move elsewhere, mostly to Texas. Last year, for the first time in a decade, more people left California than arrived .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/incendi-california-causa-cosa-succede/ on Tue, 15 Sep 2020 05:45:34 +0000.