We took a summer hiatus, and I gotta tell you, we thought things might calm down a bit. But 2020 is relentless. Now the West coast, which we have both called home, is on fire. And not in the metaphorical way we’ve been saying “the world is on fire” for the last couple of months. Here’s how to help. - Amber & Katie
Image by CIRA/NOAA
Over 40 separate wildfires have been raging in the Western U.S., particularly California, Oregon and Washington. Due to dry and windy conditions, fires have quickly spread and merged. Many have 0% containment. Over five million acres have been destroyed to date. Think of this in terms of habitat and ecosystems: thousands of human homes and entire towns burned down, tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders and over 30 people killed, countless animals harmed or displaced, many agricultural businesses wiped out. The smoke has blanketed entire states with the most polluted air in the world.
During January’s massive Australian wildfires, we wrote that while wildfires are natural and common throughout history, the recent intensity, duration, and frequency of wildfires are increasing as the global climate warms.
Other factors increase the opportunity for wildfire destruction in the U.S., including land management practices and residential property policies. For example, we don’t sufficiently employ prescribed burning that indigenous groups and ecologists support. We increasingly build and re-build residential development in high-risk “wildland-urban interface” areas. Policies that should help--like fire-safe construction regulations and retrofitting programs--favor wealthier property owners, leaving renters and individuals with less wealth more vulnerable to loss and displacement.
While it seems like 2020 is an outrageously bad year with plagues of biblical proportions, the truth is this may be a new normal. Climate change will continue to change our lives and landscapes through droughts, fires, storms, and floods. An estimated 163 million Americans (that’s half) will see the quality of their environments decrease over the next 30 years, with 93 million facing severe changes. Are our communities prepared? How will we protect the most at risk?
We need to meet the immediate needs of people who are harmed, displaced, and disadvantaged by environmental disasters right now. But we also need ambitious policies to mitigate the threats to our habitats in the years to come.
The Latino Community Foundation of California created a special Wildfire Relief Fund in 2017 when wildfires in major agricultural areas displaced 200,000 people, including large groups of migrant farmworkers and Latinx immigrants. Undocumented individuals are often ineligible for or alienated from aid programs due to their status. They needed financial assistance, rehousing support, and emergency translation to Spanish. Recognizing the ongoing need for such responses, the foundation also began to build capacity among a network of nonprofits while increasing civic engagement among the impacted groups to change policy. This is a strategic model for building community resilience that may prove life-saving.
Meet immediate needs:
Support the Wildfire Relief Fund described above for immigrant communities in California.
Donate to World Central Kitchen which has set up chef-led feeding sites all across the West, serving evacuees and first responders. (They deploy teams all over the world after natural disasters, as they also respond to food insecurity amidst COVID-19.)
Contribute to GoFundMe relief funds for Washingtonians or Oregonians.
Think longer-term:
Contribute to One Tree Planted or use their platform for group fundraisers to rally your co-workers. Each dollar plants one tree.
Check if your community is a Firewise USA program site, and get engaged in your own area’s fire-readiness.
Support state and local programs and policies, such as tax incentives, grants and no-interest loans, to retrofit residential properties and increase resilience.
Learn more about indigenous land management practices that could prevent huge wildfires. Start by watching this video featuring the Karuk Climate Adaptation Plan.
Explore 30 Solutions to Climate Risks, a project of the University of Pennsylvania. Go deep on ideas across sectors (housing, urban planning, law, tax policy, etc) that can make an impact.
Make it political:
Energized by environmentalism? Get involved with your state chapter of the League of Conservation Voters on local and national issues.
Call your members of Congress and tell them to support the Green New Deal resolution. Indivisible provides a list of phone numbers and a script. The GND is the most aggressive policy solution on the table and our best hope for limiting the impact of climate change.
Make a plan to vote. (Watch for our next bulletin for more election-related Calls to Action.)
Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Forward this bulletin to friends.
References
West Coast Fires Captured in Shocking Photos | Buzzfeed News
Maps: Fires and Air Quality in California, Oregon and Washington | NY Times
NASA's images from space show the full, devastating extent of the West Coast wildfires | Insider
As death toll mounts, volunteers brave Oregon wildfires to rescue stranded livestock | LA Times
California And Oregon Residents Described Apocalyptic Landscapes As Wildfires Raged | Buzzfeed News
'We have never seen this': 10% of Oregon faces evacuation; death toll at 26 from Western wildfires | USA Today
Oregon wildfires cancel classes, ground school meal deliveries across the state | The Oregonian
On the West Coast, leaders plead for ‘all the help we can get.’ | NY Times
Before the Fire: Protecting Vulnerable Communities From Wildfire | Center for American Progress
The Daily: A Self-Perpetuating Cycle of Wildfires | NY Times
How Climate Migration Will Reshape America | The NY Times Magazine
30 Solutions to Climate Risks | University of Pennsylvania
Wildfires have burned over 800,000 acres in Oregon. Here's how you can help. | Statesman Journal
Public Education: Wildfires | National Fire Protection Association
Here’s How to Help the Victims of Oregon’s Wildfires | Portland Monthly
Fact check: Oregon, Washington fires were not set by anti-fascist activists | USA Today
Linked & Loud illuminates complex problems and connects readers with the individuals and organizations working to solve them. Each week, we go beyond horrifying headlines to empower readers to take progressive action.