Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ 5th Congressional District in eastern Washington is grappling with increasing threats from wildfires. But their congresswoman scrupulously avoids mentioning the climate elephant in the smoke filled living room, so she won’t contradict her Koch sponsors’ notions that Global Warming should be a non issue for their obedient Republican shills in congress. Never mind that families in her district are losing their homes in the latest round of wildfires, as a state of emergency has been declared in 20 Washington counties.
McMorris Rodgers noncommittal on climate change, wildfires
By Chad Sokol
When Gov. Jay Inslee visited Spokane and declared a widespread state of emergency on Tuesday, he said citizens and lawmakers must “attack climate change itself” in order to prevent devastating wildfires.
But Eastern Washington’s congressional representative took a different tack on Wednesday, saying she wants to focus on forest management rather than human-caused climate change and the unusually hot and dry summers of recent years.
During a news conference at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, where local fire departments have established a joint command center, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was noncommittal when asked about Inslee’s comments.
“I think the policy focus needs to be on healthy forests. We need to be looking at better forest management,” she said. “Clearly, we have a lot of trees that are dead, diseased, bug-infested, and that needs to be addressed.”
The Republican congresswoman also sidestepped a question about limiting carbon emissions, a goal the Democratic governor has repeatedly tried to push through the Legislature.
She responded, “If people really understood the conditions of our forests – bug infestations that we have, the disease, dying timber that is basically kindling for fires – I believe that they would be demanding that we take action.”
But research suggests those problems are inseparable from climate change.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, “Changing climate conditions can influence the spread of infectious diseases and their carriers, and add stresses to trees, making them more susceptible to diseases. Tree disease can also be caused by abiotic conditions such as air pollution.”
Cathy McMorris Rodgers is more worried about offending her Koch network donors than she is about addressing the systemic root causes of the fires burning her constituents homes.
Spokane-area fire doubles in size, burns homes, forces evacuations
McMorris Rodgers’ 2016 primary vote fell significantly all across her 5th Congressional District compared to her 2014 primary vote totals. Help send this obtuse member of the GOP House leadership into an early retirement. Donate to Joe Pakootas campaign.