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The LA Times just published an OpEd I wrote on what we can do to respond to the problem of catastrophic wildfire.
latimes.com/opinion/story/…
latimes.com/opinion/story/…
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Michael Wara retweeted
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy: “… Some of us have been briefed on the war plan. And while I cannot disclose any details, I can say this: the plan is insane…”
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Michael Wara retweeted
Great chat with @HotshotWake talking Fix Our Forests Act and a recap on the CA legislative session.
On today’s show: What’s Passed, What’s Pending, What’s Been Defeated? A Current Look At Wildfire Legislation
If anyone knows how to navigate the political soup to pass wildfire legislation, it’s Matt Weiner, CEO and Founder of Megafire Action.
Megafire Action has worked on ed burns, the Fix Our Forests Act, and much of the wildfire legislation that recently passed in California. This includes home hardening grants, reducing litigation for prescribed burns, grants for communities in the wildland urban interface, and even a dedicated CAL FIRE unit to test and rapidly deploy emerging wildfire technology.
Before founding Megafire Action in 2022, Matt was the Executive Director of the CA Democratic Congressional Delegation (House of Representatives), Chief of Staff to State Senator Henry Stern (CA), and held various roles with the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
They are now focused on federal wildfire legislation, with many wondering what that will look like in the coming months. A great conversation.
thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/p/whats-passed…
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Michael Wara retweeted
#EsperanzaFIre – Twenty-Year Anniversary
Twenty years ago, a San Bernardino National Forest (BDF) strike team of engines was assisting CAL FIRE Riverside with an arson caused brush fire burning southwest from Cabazon in Riverside County.
The BDF strike team was assigned to an Twin Pines community and upon arriving moved into a life-safety mission helping area residents evacuate from their homes ahead of the fast-moving fire.
At 7:15am, BDF Engine 57 was overrun by fire, four firefighters perished that day and the fifth firefighter passed October 31st.
The Angeles National Forest joins firefighters across the globe honoring the sacrifice and price the five firefighters of Engine 57 paid twenty years ago today.
We will always remember and never forget.
San Bernardino National Forest’s Captain Mark Loutzenhiser, Engineer Jess McLean, Firefighter Jason McKay, Firefighter Pablo Cerda, and Firefighter Daniel Hoover-Najera.
@SanBernardinoNF @wffoundation
Twenty years ago, a San Bernardino National Forest (BDF) strike team of engines was assisting CAL FIRE Riverside with an arson caused brush fire burning southwest from Cabazon in Riverside County.
The BDF strike team was assigned to an Twin Pines community and upon arriving moved into a life-safety mission helping area residents evacuate from their homes ahead of the fast-moving fire.
At 7:15am, BDF Engine 57 was overrun by fire, four firefighters perished that day and the fifth firefighter passed October 31st.
The Angeles National Forest joins firefighters across the globe honoring the sacrifice and price the five firefighters of Engine 57 paid twenty years ago today.
We will always remember and never forget.
San Bernardino National Forest’s Captain Mark Loutzenhiser, Engineer Jess McLean, Firefighter Jason McKay, Firefighter Pablo Cerda, and Firefighter Daniel Hoover-Najera.
@SanBernardinoNF @wffoundation
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Michael Wara retweeted
On today’s show: What’s Passed, What’s Pending, What’s Been Defeated? A Current Look At Wildfire Legislation
If anyone knows how to navigate the political soup to pass wildfire legislation, it’s Matt Weiner, CEO and Founder of Megafire Action.
Megafire Action has worked on ed burns, the Fix Our Forests Act, and much of the wildfire legislation that recently passed in California. This includes home hardening grants, reducing litigation for prescribed burns, grants for communities in the wildland urban interface, and even a dedicated CAL FIRE unit to test and rapidly deploy emerging wildfire technology.
Before founding Megafire Action in 2022, Matt was the Executive Director of the CA Democratic Congressional Delegation (House of Representatives), Chief of Staff to State Senator Henry Stern (CA), and held various roles with the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
They are now focused on federal wildfire legislation, with many wondering what that will look like in the coming months. A great conversation.
thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/p/whats-passed…
If anyone knows how to navigate the political soup to pass wildfire legislation, it’s Matt Weiner, CEO and Founder of Megafire Action.
Megafire Action has worked on ed burns, the Fix Our Forests Act, and much of the wildfire legislation that recently passed in California. This includes home hardening grants, reducing litigation for prescribed burns, grants for communities in the wildland urban interface, and even a dedicated CAL FIRE unit to test and rapidly deploy emerging wildfire technology.
Before founding Megafire Action in 2022, Matt was the Executive Director of the CA Democratic Congressional Delegation (House of Representatives), Chief of Staff to State Senator Henry Stern (CA), and held various roles with the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
They are now focused on federal wildfire legislation, with many wondering what that will look like in the coming months. A great conversation.
thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/p/whats-passed…
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Michael Wara retweeted
I’ll tell you what, we’re having an earthqua—”
On this day, October 17, 1989, a massive 6.9 earthquake struck San Francisco during the live broadcast of the World Series.
Does anyone remember watching this unfold live?
Incredible footage of announcers Al Michaels and Tim eir composure, unsure if they were even still on the air.
The series, played between Bay Area rivals Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants, would forever be remembered as the “Earthquake Series.
On this day, October 17, 1989, a massive 6.9 earthquake struck San Francisco during the live broadcast of the World Series.
Does anyone remember watching this unfold live?
Incredible footage of announcers Al Michaels and Tim eir composure, unsure if they were even still on the air.
The series, played between Bay Area rivals Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants, would forever be remembered as the “Earthquake Series.
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Michael Wara retweeted
The Red Sky lineup is here!
Bipartisan leaders, federal transformation, global perspectives, & real-world tech. Focused on moving wildfire resilience from policy to action.
@MichaelWWara, @OCFAChief, @SenJohnCurtis, & more. Full lineup, with more soon: redskysummit.com/2026speakers
Bipartisan leaders, federal transformation, global perspectives, & real-world tech. Focused on moving wildfire resilience from policy to action.
@MichaelWWara, @OCFAChief, @SenJohnCurtis, & more. Full lineup, with more soon: redskysummit.com/2026speakers
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Michael Wara retweeted
Putin personally ordered a new wave of attacks on @NATO countries in Europe. The Leipzig airport plot was one of the opening shots.
Putin was driven by frustration with the stalled negotiations and Ukraine’s deep strikes.
My report via @WSJ
wsj.com/world/europe/a…
Putin was driven by frustration with the stalled negotiations and Ukraine’s deep strikes.
My report via @WSJ
wsj.com/world/europe/a…
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How many homes are in that footprint today?
𝟰𝟵 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼
The Sycamore Fire burned about 234 homes in Montecito and Santa Barbara in one night of intensive burning in 1977. It started in the foothills at the edge of Montecito/Santa Barbara when a box kite flown by a young man became entangled in high-voltage Road and East Mountain Drive and showered sparks onto dry brush below. It was hot and dry with temperatures of 92° and strong sundowner winds gusting to 90 mph. About 805 acres burned with no fatalities. The Riviera hillside neighborhoods overlooking the ocean and Sycamore Canyon were among the hardest hit. Over 3,000 people were evacuated at the peak. Water pressure failed in places as residents tried to wet down their properties, limiting firefighting effectiveness until a marine layer and wind shift helped bring it under control around 2:30–2:40 a.m.
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Great update on the California FAIR plan from two of our team at the Climate and Energy Policy Program - Nam Nguyen and Eric Macomber:
cepp.substack.com/p/californias-…
cepp.substack.com/p/californias-…
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Michael Wara retweeted
CFTC staff analyzing oil trades for insider trading around the U.S.-Iran war were told to retract their referral to the agency's enforcement division | h/t @CGorrivan bloomberg.com/news/features/…
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Michael Wara retweeted
Potential for power safety shutoffs coming to the higher elevations of the North Bay and East Bay. Warmer temperatures, windy, and dry over the hills 10/14-10/17. 10/13/2026
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You know climate adaptation is totally on track when the best source of information about the sea level rise and El Niño related flooding is the gym by the highway. Note the cars driving through bay water to get to the on-ramp.
clubevexia.com/live-web-cams/
clubevexia.com/live-web-cams/
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Michael Wara retweeted
I often see people argue that clean energy is not reducing emissions, because it just adds to rather than replaces fossil fuels. This argument is deeply misguided – clean energy built since 2005 has displaced 23 billion tons.
I dive in over at The Climate Brink (link below)
I dive in over at The Climate Brink (link below)
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The best (only?) way to stop a high intensity fire is to take the fuel away. That’s where recent fire history on a landscape creates safety and why we need more prescribed fire on the ground near where people live.
Radar reconstruction of the #BullFire plume near #Reno, NV. The data reveal repeated pulses of deep plume development, ending abruptly when the fire burned into an earlier burn scar.
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“The problem is implementation and funding,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program. “We can have the best plans in the world, but if we do not actually implement those plans, it will not matter.”calmatters.org/environment/wi…
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Critical Bay Area news alert.
Mint it’s-it’s were the treat that my grandmother always kept in her refrigerator for when we would come over/get dropped off by my parents and stay up past our bedtimes to watch the Lawrence Welk show.
Mint it’s-it’s were the treat that my grandmother always kept in her refrigerator for when we would come over/get dropped off by my parents and stay up past our bedtimes to watch the Lawrence Welk show.
I recently noticed a big change to the mint It's-It, San Francisco's iconic frozen treat. the ice cream isn't as green as it used to be, and my colleague @taraduggan found out why! (featuring some input from yours truly)
sfchronicle.com/food/article/i…
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Just noticed that there's an upcoming RX fire on Bolinas Lagoon. This coming Wednesday. So grateful to Fire Forward and All Hands Ecology for the work!
share.watchduty.org/i/74181?ts=179…
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Michael Wara retweeted
First-entry prescribed burns occur when an area is burned without pre-treatment/thinning. Given the scale of our wildfire fuels problem in dry western forests, there are many areas which are too steep to thin, or where the economics of mechanical or hand-thinning make the work y. While there are many opportunities to use logging to thin forests while also making some money to pay for other management, we need to get better at using fire as the primary tool to thin forests.
We often think of prescribed burns as being low-intensity events, where the flames creep slowly across widely-spaced trees, remaining on the ground, and killing very few of the trees in the area. However, intentional fires can also be applied under more intense prescriptions to kill thickets of dense, small trees, while still leaving the larger trees, alive.
This video documents a late-summer prescribed burn in Nevada County, California, which included a portion of forest which had not been thinned before the area was lit afire.
Link in comments, below.
We often think of prescribed burns as being low-intensity events, where the flames creep slowly across widely-spaced trees, remaining on the ground, and killing very few of the trees in the area. However, intentional fires can also be applied under more intense prescriptions to kill thickets of dense, small trees, while still leaving the larger trees, alive.
This video documents a late-summer prescribed burn in Nevada County, California, which included a portion of forest which had not been thinned before the area was lit afire.
Link in comments, below.
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