White House clean energy czar John Podesta said Hawaii fires were ‘fueled by climate change’
Hawaiian officials attributed the cause of catastrophic wildfires to alleged failures from the state’s main power utility company and downed power lines this week after Democrats blamed the disaster on global warming.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the government of Maui County, Hawaii, alleged Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and its subsidiaries failed to properly power down live electrical equipment amid a red flag windstorm earlier this month. Due to this failure, downed power lines operated by the utility company sparked a series of deadly fires on the island, the lawsuit claimed.
However, Democratic lawmakers, a top White House official and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green have all blamed the event, which has claimed the lives of at least 115 people, on human-caused global warming.
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“This is devastating. This is a climate emergency,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., an original sponsor of the Green New Deal, wrote in a post on X on Aug. 10. “I stand in solidarity with my friends and colleagues from Hawai’i — we must act fast, provide aid, and invest in a resilient and safe future.”
“Heartbreaking fires in Hawaii! Scientists are clear that climate chaos wreaking havoc on ecosystems everywhere is the new norm,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a separate post. “We need to take action immediately or else it will get even worse.”
“My heart breaks hearing of the devastation in Maui,” Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., added. “The climate crisis is here and it’s killing people. It’s time for [Biden] to declare a climate emergency.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined in, saying the wildfires were a “devastating view of our planet as we fail to adequately address the climate crisis.”
And White House clean energy czar John Podesta called for policies to reduce carbon emissions to fight future natural disasters like the Maui wildfires which he said were “fueled by climate change.”
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Article URL : https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-climate-change-blame-game-hawaii-fire-confronted-reality-maui-identifies-cause