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You won’t believe the timeline of events that led to California’s fiery inferno

As wildfires rage in California, leaving thousands of Americans homeless, people are beginning to wonder what's causing the relentless blazes.

allie beth stuckey 'Relatable' has several answers, but some may not want to hear them.

“I don't mean to criticize people who disagree with me politically, but again, our political decisions and worldviews have real consequences. “It's really important to look specifically at the choices we've made over the years that have led California to where it is,” Stuckey says.

“Over the past 50 years, environmentally focused legislation, both federal and state, has had a major impact on how California prioritizes the water on which everything depends,” she continues. “An example of water policy that many people are currently debating, including President-elect Trump, involves this small fish called the delta smelt.”

The Delta smelt is a small endangered fish in the Delta region of Northern California, and policies aimed at protecting the smelt's habitat have diverted excess water from reservoirs for the state's large population and agricultural use. Regulations are in place to send water to their habitats instead.

Natural resource economist Dr. Scott Hamilton estimates that more than 10 million acre-feet of water would be restricted to protect the Delta smelt. This is enough water to supply Los Angeles for approximately 15 to 20 years. The cost to replace that water is about $5 billion.

This all started in 1970 when President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act. The law requires federal agencies to fully determine the environmental impact of any action, known as an environmental impact statement.

Even President Ronald Reagan signed into law many of the policies that laid the foundation for what Stuckey calls “the evils of today” when it comes to immigration and environmental laws.

“This law, signed by President Ronald Reagan, is at the heart of California's regulatory landscape. The purpose of this law is to ensure that projects that have significant environmental impacts are mitigated or canceled. All until you realize that these regulatory bodies have so much power that they can actually make these kinds of arbitrary decisions that can cause great harm to individuals, their businesses, and their ability to farm. sounds good,” Stuckey explains.

Because of all these regulatory policies, California hasn't built any significant water storage facilities in more than 45 years, even though California's population has grown by about 67% from 1980 to 2020.

“If we look at the early 1990s, this period marks an important shift in California water policy, with increased federal intervention and an emphasis on protecting endangered species.” Stuckey said, returning the conversation to the delta smelt. .

“So, after all these efforts, it appears that we found two delta smelt in 2017, but despite the damage they caused, only two of them were found. Therefore, these regulations , there's really no evidence that all of these programs, all of these efforts, this cutting off of access to water, is actually helping Delta smelt survive,” Stuckey says.

“So, at least in part, or in large part, this is what's happening to California's water supply. It's primarily environmental. But as we've made clear, there are other “There are factors involved, but none of them were inevitable, none of them were a coincidence. They were all the result of deliberate policy decisions,” she added.

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