Biden To Visit Wildfire-Ravaged Hawaiian Island Amid Debate Over Whether To Blame Climate Change or Green Policies

After initially offering little more than a “no comment” to the deadliest wildfire in modern American history while on vacation in Delaware, President Biden and his wife, Jill, will visit Maui on Monday to tour what remains of the town of Lahaina and reassure residents that the federal government will assist in its rebuilding.The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, said residents of the Hawaiian island have already received more than $8 million in federal assistance — some in the form of $700 direct payments to residents affected — and that the president wants to reassure them that more is coming.“He’s going to be able to reassure the people of Maui that the federal government is there to support them but we’re doing it in a way that’s going to allow them to rebuild the way they want to rebuild,” Ms. Criswell said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.The president will also be wading into an increasingly bitter and contentious debate over the state government’s response to the fire and its causes. Environmental activists are already blaming climate change for the fires, but as more details emerge it is becoming increasingly clear that the Democratic-led government of the state bears at least some responsibility both in the runup to the fire and the manner in which it was handled.As of Sunday, authorities say they have identified 114 victims but cautioned that many more remain missing. More than 3,000 homes and buildings were burned to the ground, causing an estimated $6 billion in damages. More than 1,000 residents remain missing, according to state officials.Officials have yet to determine how or why the August 8 fires started, but videos that have surfaced on social media show downed power lines sparking dried grass near a bird sanctuary on the island. The state’s utility, Hawaiian Electric, was reportedly aware of the danger posed by such uncleared vegetation as far back as 2019, but failed to make significant efforts to address it, instead devoting much of its capital expenditures to meet state-mandated renewable energy goals aimed at addressing climate change.State officials also have come under fire for failing to sound the island’s network of 80 sirens around the island as the fire gathered pace. Maui’s director emergency management, Herman Andaya, resigned on Saturday for what he described as “health reasons.” Another state official, this one with the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, M. Kaleo Manuel, was accused of refusing to allow landowners to fill their reservoirs with the water needed to fight the fires for five hours. Mr. Manuel has since been reassigned.Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy pointed to the water incident as proof that the state’s leaders are more interested in politics than in protecting homeowners. “We’re learning that the official who delayed the approval is an Obama Foundation ‘Asia Pacific Leader’ & a climate activist,” Mr. Ramaswamy tweeted. He’s a “climate activist who believes water should be ‘revered’ first and foremost. The DEI agenda is literally costing people their lives.” The Hawaiian fires have renewed calls from Mr. Biden’s allies in Congress and among environmental activists for the president to declare a national state of emergency to address climate change, a bureaucratic maneuver that many believe would allow the president to bypass Congress and enact a host of measures aimed at curbing the use of fossil fuels and spending taxpayer money on renewable energy projects.In a statement to Politico, Senator Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said emergencies such as the one in Hawaii need a national, coordinated response to what some believe will be a recurring pattern going forward — despite the lack of evidence that climate change had anything to do with the fires.“The devastation in Maui is a clear sign that the president must declare a climate emergency — now,” Mr. Markey said. “While FEMA is providing resources to the local heroes on the ground fighting for the lives and livelihoods of Hawaiians, the underlying climate-driven conditions of drought, extreme heat, environmental injustice, and non-resilient infrastructure will remain.”

Biden To Visit Wildfire-Ravaged Hawaiian Island Amid Debate Over Whether To Blame Climate Change or Green Policies

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