Tag: forest management

Who fiddled while Los Angeles Burned? A new layer in the blame sandwich of the Los Angeles fires: could smart meters have added to the fires?
15-03 Who Fiddled While L.A. Burned? Plus: Secondary Ignition Sources in Los Angeles Fires?

15-03 Who Fiddled While L.A. Burned? Plus: Secondary Ignition Sources in Los Angeles Fires?

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Show 15-03 Summary: This week we’re taking a look at the Los Angeles fires disaster.. And while the far-left Democrats’ environmental policies have gotten a lot of the focus, could there have been other mandates with the electric grid itself that could have amplified the problems? L.A.’s smart meters. Which have been known to cause fires. And even explode when exposed to water and fires. Smart meters were cited in the 2017 Northern California fires. And problems with them go back far earlier. But in the rush for green energy were bureaucrats too eager to look the other way?

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Air Dates: January 18th & 19th, 2025 | Guest: Dr. Bonner Cohen

Los Angeles Fires – What Happened and Why

It’s Climate Change. It’s Gavin Newsome. Or the Democrats. Or the Los Angeles mayor. It’s the fire hydrants. It’s the Santa Ana winds. Well, we definitely played a role. But wherever you look, there is plenty of blame to go around. And as we looked deeper into things, it turns out there could be yet another layer to the blame sandwich. Namely, smart meters. But we’ll come back around to that.

There has already been plenty of blame to go around. And well deserved. From Governor Gavin Newsom to the California far-left democrat supermajorities in the California legislatures to the Los Angeles mayor and water commissioners and fire chief. The list of who-should-be-blamed is lengthy. And that doesn’t even include arson or accidental fires.

And, no, Climate Change was not to blame. We’ve said it before: IF you truly believe that Global Warming is making the Earth hotter and drier, then you would do more forest management and not what the environmental left does. Which is almost nothing. And this is especially true in areas, like Los Angeles, which is an area known for its arid, dry conditions. The failure of the far left’s environmental policies — of get 100s of billions of Climate Change cash from the taxpayers and do nothing with it — was definitely front and center.

But was there yet another layer of Climate Change stupidity at fault? Los Angeles’s mandatory smart meters, as part of their green energy revolution.

Did Smart Meters Make Things Worse

This week we welcome back an internationally recognized expert on natural resources, energy, the environment, and property rights—Dr. Bonner Cohen. He is also a senior policy analyst at CFACT.

There are known problems with smart meters. Yes, they have caused fires. Tens of thousands of them across the country. Yes, they have design flaws. Yes, their lithium-ion batteries can get explosively hot — as much as 5,000°. Which is about 2,000 degrees hotter than the melting point of titanium.

Dr. Cohen knows all too well about the inherent fire dangers of lithium-ion batteries, having written an article just a year ago about their incredible fire hazards. Smart meters have lithium-ion batteries. If they catch fire, they can quickly accelerate to up to thousands of degrees and that heat can get into the homes. They have also been know to be susceptible to water and heat (like fires) and were believed to have played a role in the 2017 Northern California fires.

Smart meters are mandatory in Los Angeles. And they’re a part of the future of green energy—in part because they allow greater control over your usage of electricity.  Why? Because they connect wirelessly with the utility company, and can be both adjusted. And switched off. Could they have played a role in the 2025 Los Angeles fires?  We don’t know yet. For certain, it is a fact that smart meters have been involved in past fires. And we definitely know that no one will find anything if no one looks. And we know no one will look if no one asks questions.

There is so much to discuss and uncover about smart meters, that we will have to discuss them in more depth in a future show. Because we also know that if the Far Left democrats in California and Los Angeles get their way, the smart meters will be mandatory in the next Los Angeles.

Terrifying Possibilities for More Los Angeles Fires?

But perhaps the most troubling aspect of the so-called smart meters is that since they are remotely accessed, there’s a very real potential that they could be hacked. We already know the Chinese have hacked into U.S. systems and infrastructure. Imagine a scenario where hackers switch on and off smart meters until their lithium-ion batteries overheat and ignite. One house every other block and they could spread before fire crews could get them under control.

That’s potentially pretty terrifying.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey warned, “What they’re doing now, they’re constructing what they call a ‘Smart Grid.’ … [T[o make it easier for you and me to call our homes on our cell phone and turn down our air-conditioning on a hot afternoon if we’re not there. Great, but that may well mean that a hacker in Shanghai with his cell phone could do the same thing or worse. And a so-called “Smart Grid” that is as vulnerable as what we’ve got is not smart at all, it’s a really, really stupid grid.”

And as for those smart meters and their lithium-ion batteries that have been known to catch fire? After we spoke with Dr. Cohen, a massive fire broke out at the Moss Landing  Power Plant, the world’s largest maker or lithium-ion batteries. The fire was so bad and there was so much toxic smoke that the area had to be evacuated.

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Be sure to visit CFACT.org. The Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow is a great organization with incredible experts on energy, the environment, and so much more. Like these articles about the Los Angeles fires:
  • The L.A. Wildfires Should Be a Wake-up Call (City Journal, Jan 10, 2025)
    • “Decades of fire suppression policies have left forests dangerously dense and overgrown”
  • Want to learn more about smart meters and their potential role in the Los Angeles Fires? We will have a dedicated page to these (there is a tremendous amount of pages we are still sorting through. But in the meantime, two good resources are:
  • The Discovery and Science of Smart Meter Fires — 2021 presentation (via Smart Meter Harm, July 4, 2024). A presentation by a fire scientist, an engineer, and a fire forensic scientist. The direct link to the PDF of the presentation is at this link.
  • Another study is “Overview: Fire and Electrical Hazards from ‘Smart’, Wireless, PLC, and Digital Utility Meters,” available as a PDF.
  • California government report on SCE Smart Meter program: Rising costs eliminate consumer savings (Smart Meter Harm, 2014)
  • Moss Landing Lithium-Ion Battery Plant Fire:

California Fires, Environmentalism, and Green Energy Related Articles

  • President Trump gets it on wind (CFACT, Jan 14, 2025),
  • The Saturation effect questions the prevailing narrative on CO2 (CFACT, Jan X, 2025)
  • GOP attacks on IRA can’t score a clean sweep in red states (CNBC, Jan 12, 2025); EV tax credit is ‘catastrophically stupid (CNBC, Dec 5, 2024)
    • “Newly elected Bernie Moreno, is targeting getting rid of the EV tax credit, clarifying that the $75 hundred dollar incentive is catastrophically stupid.”

 

15-02 MEGA MAGA | Make Economics Great Again

15-02 MEGA MAGA | Make Economics Great Again

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Show 15-02 Summary: You can’t Make America Great Again without MEGA. Make Economics Great Again. This week we take a look at how the new Trump administration can make the economy great again. We do that with Jonathan Williams, the president and chief economist for the American Legislative Exchange Council. We look first at how stupid environmental policies in California have led to the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires. And we look at Trump’s tax plans. Can he really replace income taxes with tariffs? And we look forward to a more efficient government that absolutely must cut spending if we are ever going to get rid of the deficit to start cutting into the debt.

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Air Dates: January 11th & 12th, 2025 | Guest: Jonathan Williams

This Week – MEGA: Make Economics Great Again

One of the best things Trump’s MAGA can do is MEGA. Make Economics Great Again.

We welcome back Jonathan Williams, who was recently promoted to president over at ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is all about developing good, common sense, sound policy that they help states implement.

We start our discussion with these stupid environmental policies in California that have led to the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires. The incompetent people in charge are trying to blame climate change for their stupid policies. In part, they are correct. Their religious belief in climate change led them to the stupid policy of not doing forest management.

Let’s be clear: IF you truly believe in climate change, and that the world is getting hotter and drier as a result of global warming, then you should be doing more forest management than ever. And not what the environmental left has been doing, which is nothing.

But of course stupid policies are not limited to California. Many of those stupid environmental policies along with hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars spent on climate change, come from Washington DC.

Can Trump MEGA?

We talk with Jonathan Williams about what new policies are needed, and what old policies definitely need to go. How many of those environmental policies will be forced to go when the federal funding keeping them alive disappears? But what new, good policies are needed? And are there examples of good policies at the state level that ought to trickle up to the federal level?

And what about those taxes?

People forget that for most of America’s history, there was no income tax. And the federal government got most of its funding from tariffs. can trump really make that happen and replace the income tax with tariffs? Is that even feasible? well, it can’t happen unless there are some significant cuts to the budget, and we talk about that too.

Get informed about how MAGA can make MEGA really happen.

Well, lookee here:

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Related/Further Information

  • Oregon, blue states rule top inflation states (Oregon Catalyst, Jan 7, 2025)
    • “The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis ranks Oregon as the eighth most expensive U.S. state to live in.”
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Uncertainty of the Trump Economy (Project Syndicate, Dec 31, 2024)
  • Not good when D’s aren’t even investing in Oregon.: “Arizona wins third and final federal semiconductor research hub; Oregon’s hopes dashed” (OPB, Jan 6, 2025); “Arizona wins last of 3 planned federal chip research sites” (OregonLive, Jan 6, 2025)
  • State regulators approve more electricity rate hikes for Oregonians in 2025 (The World, Jan 7, 2025)
    • Shouldn’t the policy be to provide the most power for the lowest price? If individuals or individual businesses want to buy solar or wind, they can. But don’t punish the average person.
  • Lawmakers propose pause on rate hikes (Capital Chronicle, Jan 7, 2025)

 

There are solutions to drought and wildfires but never let a good crisis go to waste
The Drought of Action | Why Democrats won’t Fix Forests or Water

The Drought of Action | Why Democrats won’t Fix Forests or Water

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Show Summary: Democrats blame every environmental problem on mankind, because climate change. But if you really believe global warming is real, you should take more action, not less. It’s not that there aren’t solutions to wildfires and drought. It’s that the solutions don’t financially benefit democrat organizations. And why solve a problem if you can keep exploiting it? But they may have to change. Because the public have had enough of the democrats’ letting nature take its course.

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Original Air Dates: Aug 7th & 8th, 2021 | Dr. Bob Zybach & Sen. Dennis Linthicum

This Week: Drought and Wildfires

Never let a good catastrophe go to waste. That’s been the democrat and socialist mantra for decades.

But, worse, they create the crisis and offer the solution. We’re certainly seeing that with covid, a disease that you’re virtually guaranteed to survive with a average 99.8% recovery rate. But why let math get in the way of politicized science.

And there’s no place they do this more than the environment.

Wildfires: It’s not Global Warming, Stupid

First up we talk with our go-to expert, Dr. Bob Zybach, about the so-called “historic” drought. Is it? And of course drought impacts forests, which the so-called environments refuse to manage. Why is that?

Because, of course, you can make money on a crisis. Nobody throws millions of dollars at a problem that is easily managed. But if you create fear, you create opportunity. The political and financial kind. And why solve a problem like drought if you can exploit a never-ending river of money out of it?

But are people starting to wake up to the scam? Not enough. Yet. But there are cracks in their armor. Years ago, they never would have said that the forests have been mismanaged for decades. Like Oregon’s governor did just a dew weeks ago on a national news program. Excuse me, governor? Which party has been managing Oregon’s forests for decades. Oh, yes. That would be the democrats.

If they’re admitting it, maybe, just maybe, we can start solving the problems. But it’ll cost ya. If democrats are allowed to stay in power.

The Real Drought: Taking Action on Fixable Problems

Keep in mind, drought has been part of mankind’s existence since mankind existed. It’s not that there aren’t solutions. It’s that solving a problem means you can’t exploit it. And that’s what drives democrats right now. A crisis you create and just happen to have organizations that meets the needs of that crisis — without actually solving the crisis — is a situation that you can exploit. For literally billions.

We talk with Oregon Senator Dennis Linthicum from the Klamath Falls area — the focal point of environmental exploitation for decades.

It’s not that there isn’t water, it’s that the water is allowed to flow into the ocean. Without benefiting man nor fish. Think about it. If you let water go down stream, how does that benefit the fish you’re trying to save.

But is there something sinister afoot?

Environmentalists have tried for years to drive farmers off their land. Land that without water is both useless and worthless. And if farmers can’t make it, they could be forced to sell their land for pennies on the dollar.

And, abracadabra, environmentalists who buy that land could turn around and sell it $100 acres for $10,000 per acre mitigation credits. Some areas of the country would buy them for $50,000 an acre. And here you thought Lefties were against profits.

They are. When someone else makes it.

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Links

Take Action – Demand Better Forest Management

Take Action – Demand Better Forest Management

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Take Action Briefing

What: Demand better forest management to prevent forest fires
Who: Any one from any U.S. state. This affects all of us!
How: Contact your state and federal officials (quick link for contact info)
When: Now!
Why: Environmental policies based on fantasy and political agendas rather than actual science has led to decades of mismanagement in our National and State Forests. In 2017 alone over 1 million acres of prime forests have been destroyed. This is NOT normal and must stop now!

The Problem: Bad Policy is Causing Massive Forest Fires

oregon forest fires, Multnomah Falls Lodge
Oregon forest fires, over 300,000 acres burned so far. And nearly burned the historic Multnomah Falls Lodge.

Environmentalists have hijacked forest management, meaning they’re not managed at all. At the root of environmentalism, environmentalists believe mankind is not a part of nature. This leads to policies that urge forests and nature to be left alone and not managed at all. Fuel piles up, year after year, and it’s just a matter of time before a lightning strike lights the match.

This year, over 300,000 acres in Oregon have burned and the fires are growing. In Montana, 500,000 acres have burned. All across the West, in California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, forest fires are raging and it can all be traced to bad environmental policy.

Did you know that prior to the environmental policies of Bill Clinton, Oregon did not have one significant forest fire? Why? Because the forests were actively managed.

Did you know that by law Oregon is required to harvest timber from State lands and O & C lands and use the proceeds to fund schools and roads?

Did you know that Oregon’s three-member land board (governor, secretary of state and state treasurer) recently attempted to sell the Elliott Forest for pennies on the dollar so they wouldn’t have to bother to manage the timber — as required by law?

Did you know nearly one-third of Oregon’s counties are close to bankruptcy because they’re not allowed to log?

Demand Better Forest Management

Things you can do:

  1. Get educated! If you haven’t listened to our show on Oregon’s forest fires, head to the show page for tons of links and listen to the show. You will have plenty of information and ammunition to hit your representatives with.
  2. Contact your state representatives (see contact info, below). Tell them you are tired of these so-called environmental policies that allow our forests to burn. Point out that obviously these policies are NOT working and they must be changed to allow timber harvests. Money from trees is better than smoke and ashes. Trees grow back. This must end and it must end now. Send them a link to the show page and ask them, as their constituent, to listen to the show personally or at least have their staff listen.
  3. Contact your federal Congressman and both of your U.S. Senators. As with your state reps, demand change. Point out that the current hands off policy clearly is NOT working. It is time to end this nonsense. Feel free to send them a link to the show page as well and ask them to listen to the show. Or send them a direct link to the free podcast. (Note: podcast not available until Monday after noon.)
  4. If you’re an Oregonian, contact the Governor, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer. These three make up the state land board. Again, demand change and point out that the current policy of let-it-burn is clearly not working.

Contact Information

  • State – Don’t who your state representatives are? Need their contact info? Problem solved! Get it here. Just type in your address and get your state representative’s and senator’s phone and email.
  • Federal – Go to this link, click on your state, and then type in your address to find your Congressman and your two U.S. Senators. This works for any state. (Or just jump here for Oregon’s search page.)
  • Oregonians only – Contact the state land board members: contact Governor, Kate Brown; contact Secretary of State, Dennis Richardson (note: expand the “Executive Office” section for full contact info but his email is oregon.sos@oregon.gov​​​​​​​​); and contact the Oregon State Treasurer, Tobias Read. You may also submit a comment to the Dept. of State Lands to let staff know want changes to state policy.

Further Tips & Suggestions

Remember: when contacting your state and federal representatives, be polite but firm. There’s no need to call them names but you can and should point out that the current situation is failing and must be changed. You should definitely listen to the show on Oregon’s forest fires—you will have plenty of things you can discuss. You can also send them link (http://ispyradio.com/oregon-forest-fires) to our show and demand they listen to it and then take genuine management steps to end this environmental nonsense that does nothing to protect the environment.

These policies are NOT NORMAL! And they must end now.

Oregon forest fires
Enough! Idiotic Enviro Policies Allowing 300,000 Acres To Burn is NOT Normal

Enough! Idiotic Enviro Policies Allowing 300,000 Acres To Burn is NOT Normal

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Show Summary: This week we take an in-depth look at how and why the Oregon forest fires have exploded this year. We also look at where they’re occurring and why in those particular areas. The answer may surprise you. Don’t miss the environment myths that inevitably lead to these devastating forest fires and the lies they spread about how the devastation is “good” for the environment.

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If Oregon’s do-nothing, let-it-burn policy of environmental destruction angers you, take it out on your representatives — state and federal. See this take action page for suggestions on what to do and how to contact them.

Original Air Dates: Sept 9 & 10, 2017 | Dr. Bob Zybach

There are currently over 300,000 acres of Oregon forest fires—and the vast majority didn’t need to happen. This week, Dr. Zybach explodes the environmental myths that have led to these devastating fires.

To find out the how and why the Oregon forest fires are out of control, we talk to Dr. Bob Zybach who not only did his dissertation on wildfires but has over 25 years of practical forest management as a reforester.  He predicted out -of-control forest fires as far back as 30 years ago and discusses with us how the environmental policies and practices have no basis at all in science or even common sense. As proof, none of the Oregon forest fires currently burning are on land he replanted. Good, sound management works.

Listen in to find out the facts—where these fires are burning and why there. You’ll be surprised at the amazing answer to where they are not burning.

Tune in to hear the economic devastation of the Oregon forest fires, including the jaw-dropping loss of income and jobs from not being able to help rebuild Houston or Florida, the insane messaging from the far-left as they try to find a way to justify these fires (see Willamette Week’s stupidity of how the Columbia River Gorge Wildfire could Help Wildlife “Flourish”), and now the pressure we must put on our state and federal government TO STOP THIS NONSENSE.

Take Action. Prevent more Oregon Forest Fires!

It’s time to change policies. Now.  This show will give you plenty of ammunition to contact your representatives at the state and local levels to demand change.

Angry? Ready to do something? Then take out your anger on your state and federal representatives.

Related Links