This post was originally published by Blue Tomorrow. Reprinted with permission.
It’s August here in western Washington State, which means two things: (1) I’ll soon be packing up for my return to New Orleans (class starts soon), and (2) the smoke blowing in from regional wildfires is making my nose burn.
Here in Washington, there are 16 uncontained wildfires burning more than 672 square miles and being fought by more than 7,000 fire personnel. The blazes are among 99 active large fires burning across the country. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, this year’s wildfire season exceeds the 10-year average for both the number of fires and the acres burned.
Appropriately, the news here is full of stories about personal loss, evacuation routes, fire-suppression strategies, and the brave firefighters who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.
But there’s a deeper story: Our broad approach to handling wildfire in the United States was designed for a climate that no longer exists. We must do better.
Here are four things worth knowing:
1. Climate change is changing the rules.
Yes, wildfire is inevitable, natural, and even biologically beneficial. Yes, there are many direct and indirect drivers, including flawed forestry, urban sprawl, a janky power grid, and bad weather.
But the backdrop has changed.
Our unraveling climate is making fire seasons longer and more intense. Warmer winters leave less snowpack, causing forests to dry out sooner. Summer heat waves desiccate vegetation. Some scientists believe climate change may increase the frequency of lightning, a common source of wildfire ignition.
Climate change doesn’t cause every wildfire. But it increases the odds of fire and the risk of catastrophic damage.
That matters because many of our policies (land use controls, building codes, forestry budgets, air pollution standards) are built around yesterday’s climate, not today’s.
2. America’s insurance system wasn’t built for an era of megafires.
Homeowner’s insurance typically spreads wildfire risk across large populations. That model collapses when catastrophic fires become more commonplace and more expensive.
Across the West, insurers have raised premiums, reduced coverage, or left some markets altogether. Nearly everyone I see who lives west of the Rockies complains to me about fire insurance. My sister in Nevada, my sons in California, my in-laws in Washington, the guy sitting next to me in a tiki bar last February in Hilo, Hawaiʻi.
State regulators are scrambling to balance affordable insurance with the financial realities facing insurers. Homeowners are chasing state-backed insurance plans, shifting more risk onto taxpayers. I get it. I live most of the year in flood-prone New Orleans, where my flood insurance is federally subsidized. (I’m not against insurance subsidies, per se, for either fire or flood — but that’s a longer conversation for the tiki bar.)
Insurance is the front line of climate policy, and we need to address it head-on.
3. Wildfire smoke is a worker safety issue.
Wildfire smoke can travel thousands of miles, exposing millions of people to unhealthy air. Outdoor workers — including farmworkers, construction crews, utility workers, dockworkers, and commercial fishers — often have little choice but to keep working.
Some states have adopted protections for workers exposed to extreme heat and wildfire smoke. Others haven’t. (In Texas and Florida, it’s actually illegal for cities to impose worker protections for extreme heat.)
Federal protections? Forget it.
4. Wildfire is also an ocean story.
You don’t see the connection until it starts raining. Burned hillsides send ash, sediment, nutrients, and pollutants into rivers that eventually reach estuaries and coastal waters. Salmon and shellfish habitat suffer. Reservoirs become harder and more expensive to manage.
The Takeaway
Climate change is a stress test that shows flaws in our insurance markets, worker safety protections, and coastal management. Things worked better in the Former Times (not perfectly, but better). But those days aren’t coming back.
We need a new plan.
