"US interior secretary Ryan Zinke blames environmentalists for the devastation in California and calls for an increase in logging".
"The US interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, has blamed environmentalists for California’s ferocious wildfires and claimed, contrary to scientific research, that climate change had “nothing to do” with them. Instead, he said the fires were worsened because of limits on logging.
“America is better than letting these radical groups control the dialogue about climate change,” Zinke told KCRA, a TV station in northern California, on Sunday. “Extreme environmentalists have shut down public access. They talk about habitat and yet they are willing to burn it up.”
His remarks come on the heels of a USA Today op-ed, published last week, where he held environmentalists partly responsible for the fires because of a stance some have taken against logging. Zinke described it as a responsible means of forest management and called for an increase in timber harvesting, adding that this would also be a boon for the economy."
Gabrielle Canon reports for the Guardian August 13, 2018.
SEE ALSO:
"Sen. Sanders Blasts Zinke: Wildfires 'Have Everything To Do With Climate Change'" (The Hill)
"‘The President’s Right’: Interior Chief Pushes Thinning Forests To Cut Fire Risk" (Sacramento Bee)
"The Era Of Megafires: The Crisis Facing California And What Will Happen Next" (Guardian)
"Firefighters Battle To Contain Historic California Blaze As Political Tensions Rise" (Guardian)
"Trump Reignited His War With California, But His Bizarre Tweet Got Burned" (Guardian)
"Zinke Takes Forestry Fight To Fire-Ravaged California" (The Hill)
"Zinke on California Fires: 'This Is Not A Debate About Climate Change'" (The Hill)
"Ryan Zinke Tells California How To Stop Wildfires: Cut Down Trees" (HuffPost)
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