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Acting to Prevent & Mitigate Wildfires

Idea Category: Climate Change

An op-ed from NewDEAL Leader Colorado Representative Dylan Roberts highlights the importance of the state legislature’s successful bipartisan passage of six bills to prevent and mitigate wildfires, including one with NewDEALer Senator Chris Hansen as a prime sponsor. As underscored by the latest IPCC report on climate released this week, the changing climate and resulting increase in extreme weather events demand immediate action to protect people both now and in the future. Roberts highlights his state’s recent “dramatic upsurge in the incidence and duration of forest fires" that mirrors what's happening throughout the western states and explains how the new state laws will mitigate this challenge in Colorado. Hansen's bill directs funding to forest restoration and risk mitigation projects, while others in the package allocate funding to the water conservation board for watershed protection and new technology for firefighting. Read more about this important legislative work to combat the effects of climate change.