By Jared Downing and Kate Sheehy
Lefty California Gov. Gavin Newsom is shortchanging the state’s vital fire-prevention programs while shelling out tens of billions of dollars on “Don Quixote’’ Green New Deal handouts, critics — including some environmentalists — say.
The embattled governor’s new budget slashed the state’s firefighting efforts by $101 million, to just $2.6 billion, in June — only seven months before devastating wildfires began wreaking deadly havoc in Los Angeles.
But that hasn’t stopped Newsom from ringing up a mind-boggling $14.7 billion price tag in transitioning the state to zero-emission-only vehicles and other clean-energy initiatives — and $100 billion in costs over the next several years for even more “pure political’’ climate initiatives, reports have said.
Critics have savaged fire prevention efforts by both Newsom and leaders in Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass cut $17.6 million from the LAFD in this year’s budget, which Chief Kristin Crowley warned would hamper her department’s response to fires. Crowley, meanwhile, has been criticized for focusing more on DEI than on fire prevention after taking the helm in 2022.
“Even with the funding, many projects get delayed or stalled because of [the California Environmental Quality Act], lawsuits, and bureaucracy,’’ seethed California Republican Assembly leader James Gallagher on X last week.
He noted that the town of Berry Creek had been trying to clear out dead wood and other fuel to help prevent wildfires when it was stopped by environmental laws. The northern California town was later all-but destroyed by 2020 wildfire.
