The United States must engage on climate

The fires in LA were cause by building in a very well known fire hazard area due to the Santa Winds. A tiny rise in world temperatures did not cause it. We will eventually have affordable green energy but until then we're mostly stuck with fossil fuels. Lithium batteries are not capable of storing utility scale electricity as the Moss Landing utility plant fire just showed us.

Unfortunately I gotta break down another one of these stupid climate change articles by ignorant junior activists. The reason I have no tolerance for this stuff is twofold - its totally based in lies and if these activists had their way - the Constitution would be in the woodchipper.

So the line is a fact about how many structures have been destroyed - then the next line is the implied premise that the reader should take as fact. She doesn't mention "climate change" yet - but she can't wait to do so in the next paragraph. So the word "drought" specifically is a stand in. Which is either ignorance - or a blatant lie that begins to steer the narrative. I would go with the latter. California had some of the wettest 2 years in a long time - Oroville Dam and Lake Shasta were at 100% capacity. I know this for a fact because I frequent the area and talked to people who worked there. Drought was not at all responsible for the LA fires - or the Lahaina fires - or the Paradise fires. What was responsible were the people in charge - the distribution of money and resources - and preparation - every time. You don't get to point to some existential nonsense every time there are abject failures in policy and people you blindly support for whatever reason. Was it "climate change" when Mayor Bass cut over 17 million for the Fire Department - i got a buddy who is Fire Captain in Burlingame - they were ready to help - but never got the authorization because Newsome didnt give it. Lets go over more - when the reservoirs were not filled up in Pacific Palisades because of "climate change" - when controlled burns were not done to protect residents because of "climate change" - when dams were destroyed to protect fish in the name of "environmentalism" - when our local San Luis Reservoir expansion is still being put on hold because of an environmental report and "climate change." You put inept losers in charge and this is what you get. Strong people dont back down from criticism or danger. You people seek to destroy and blame and redirect - not help.

If you really think the Paris Climate Agreement was altruistic - I got a big orange bridge to sell you in SF - only $500. Its the same thing as ESG - basically DEI and Communism under the guise of protecting the environment. Blaming the people for their own plight and wanting to punish them - and you got no problem carrying the torch like a good little Marxist. But I don't expect young people like you to read beyond the sensationalist headlines. I have lived in the Netherlands - and my friends out there are saying the government wants to eliminate ALL private farms - they are paying them to kill their animals - yea that was in the Paris Climate Agreement. Like other commenters have mentioned - do you really think India or China is going to follow any of this LOL. I've been to both countries - and they will never comply with anything. I'm sure you hate the idea of wars - and America being the "World Police" - but you love the idea of America enforcing "climate action" on the world via the UN. Tyranny has 31 flavors. Hopefully you have the opportunity one day to expand you perspective with travel. Nothing like seeing the real 3rd world to snap you out of your nonsense.

"The warming is driven by the burning of fossil fuels and other man-made causes. As technology and AI continue to rapidly expand, demand for energy also increases."

More baseless claims the author expects us to accept as facts. Thats the problem - nobody in the "global warming" cult can provide and experiment that can be replicated that shows temperature is being consistently changed in any kind of positive trajectory - let alone confirmed by man made applications - and to point to one specific application in fossil fuels is beyond irresponsible.It exposes you. Its Biden and Kamala level activism. You sound like a lobbyist for a private company already. Good news is - if you are so comfortable lying to people at such an early age - you will make a lot of money in this world.

I still play a lot of city builder video games - and let me tell you - the 3 hallmarks of a successful society are CHEAP ENERGY - food security - and affordable housing. The climate change racket is a society killer - financial and spiritually. Also - why would the expansion of AI need more energy? That is a super baffling claim that even my Bengal Cat named Karma was perturbed by.

"Trump’s second term of presidency will dismantle the progress the U.S. government has taken to address climate change."

If you want to write an opinion piece go ahead and do so - but this is not how you write an editorial. You can't make a claim like that - its 3 lies mixed into one "rhetorical" statement.

"Renewable energy, also known as clean energy includes geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind and ocean energy — all of which can be replenished."

You do understand how minerals work? They continuously grow in the ground via pressure. Your use of the word "replenished" kinda showed exactly your level of understanding regarding how energy really works. Coal can be "replenished" - oil can be "replenished" - water can be replenished - that's how the beautiful earth works. Fossil fuels ARE renewable - the problem is your definition is not correct. You learned from dumb people - its not your fault. Its your parents fault.

" They also emit carbon dioxide into our atmosphere when burned, trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere which causes global warming."

If the reader doesn't swallow this BS assertion as fact - we are lost. Humans emit Carbon Dioxide from breathing - and plants grow because of it. Its wild to see how activists with financial incentives have reprogrammed peoples minds. Thats how the Devil works - he convinces you good is evil and evil is good.

"The growth of the renewable energy sector has shown to protect and improve our environment, health and economy."

Just a bad sentence. Rewrite it. I was an honors English/Sociology Double Major at UCSB for reference. Trust me.

"Renewable energy is quickly becoming one of the cheapest energy options, making it more accessible for developing countries."

This LIE actually bothered me - because its so untrue to the point its dangerous. Just like DEI in LA actually killing people. Anybody with 2 brain cells knows "renewable energy" is not even in the same universe in cheapness as traditional energy that America has been using forever. Also - i bet you have not looked into how we cannot ever recycle solar panels and they can get easily damaged and ruin our soil.

"The beginning of 2025 has revealed the catastrophic impacts of climate change in our communities and on our planet. "

Nope. It has shown without a doubt that woke politics DEI ESG Paris Agreement THE GLOBAL WARMING HOAX - and all other nonsense needs to go in the rubbish bin. Exactly like this article. The United States cannot afford to endure anymore liberal existential nonsense - that is not based in facts - its all bullying and solipsistic clownery.

Good for you, Ms. Liu, for your thoughtful and insightful editorial. Young people like you are our only hope for the future, and survival. Please ignore the Flat Earthers and Felon Followers on this page, who continue to ignore decades of climate science and who insist that raking leaves and filling fire hydrants will address the problem. I only hope that the greedy and thoughtless boomers who have danced while Rome literally burns have not left it too late for your generation to address this crisis. Ignore their bleating... I do.

As Yogi Berra said, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” Ms. Liu is detailing the same, repeated, complaints about fossil fuels but with no solutions. In these letters, what is never addressed is why folks who take hundreds of private planes (not to mention “public” planes) are given a pass for burning carbon to their hearts’ desires in attending, of all things, climate conferences to tell people of the evils of carbon emissions. Then of course, folks imagine the USA is the world’s only carbon emitter and any carbon conservation will make a global difference. No word about China and India and other developing, and undeveloped, countries burning more and more fossil fuels. And the granddaddy of them all, the wildfires due to Newsom not performing wildfire management. Carbon emissions from recent LA fires are likely to emit more carbon than any carbon savings for the past 10 years, or more. And let’s not get into the tremendous amount of surface area required for windmills or solar panels to equal the output of fossil fuel or nuclear generation plants.

I applaud President Trump for broadening oil and natural gas production to begin correcting the Reign of Error (hat tip to John Marty) by Mr. Biden. Have you seen the increase in gas and electricity bills during the past few years? BTW, I do want to congratulate Ms. Liu on being part of the 1%. Not for income or net worth but the 1% of Americans who say “climate change” is the most important issue in the country.

Eileen, while some of your article is backed up by facts, you make the unsupported assertion that the recent LA fires were caused or exacerbated by "climate change". This is not true. If you were to have looked up rainfall totals by year in California (or LA county) you would have seen that we have had cycles of drought and heavy rain years for decades- over 100 years since records have been kept. The past 2 seasons in LA were some of the wettest on record. There has not been an increase in dry years since the use of "fossil fuels."

Regardless, if one believes the fires were caused by man-made "climate change" why was there not more preparation for this inevitability? Investments could have been made in water storage, brush could have been cleared to reduce the kindling that encourages fire spread, and (call me crazy) maybe someone should have checked that nearby reservoirs were full and hydrants were working during such a dry year.