Gov. Newsom Signs $15 Billion Climate Package At Sequoia National Park

"Funding for forest thinning, electric vehicles, drought relief included"

"Speaking at Sequoia National Park, where firefighters have toiled for the past two weeks to keep wildfires from killing some of the largest trees in the world, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a package of bills providing $15 billion for a wide range of climate, wildfire and water projects — from thinning forests to building electric car charging stations and encouraging the development of offshore wind farms.

Newsom noted that six of the seven largest fires in California’s recorded history have happened in the past two years. Entire communities, such as Paradise, Greenville and Grizzly Flats, near South Lake Tahoe, which burned in the Caldor Fire this summer, have been destroyed in recent years.

“Grizzly Flats, it’s a beautiful community,” Newsom said. “The P.O. box goes back to the Gold Rush. Wiped off the map. Greenville. Wiped off the map. Paradise. Traditions, lifestyles, people, places, wiped off the map. That’s what climate change is about.”"

Paul Rogers reports for the San Jose Mercury News September 23, 2021.

Source: San Jose Mercury News, 09/24/2021