health
We need a wartime mindset to fight the threat of wildfires
While many leaders compare the wildfire crisis to the second world war, governments fail to adopt the real lessons of pre-emptive wartime action
TL;DR
- Wildfires are a global crisis, affecting Europe, Australia, the US, Canada, and other regions.
- Leaders are comparing the scale of wildfires to WWII, but are failing to adopt pre-emptive wartime lessons.
- The root cause of these extreme events is the continued combustion of fossil fuels.
- Current government responses are defensive and rearguard actions, not pre-emptive wartime-scale mobilization.
- A "wartime" mindset is needed, involving honesty about the crisis, significant spending, new economic institutions, mandatory measures, and ensuring no one is left behind.
- Past wartime mobilizations offer a hopeful precedent for how society can unite to confront civilizational threats and retool the economy.