Right-Wing Media Insist It's "DEI" -- Not Climate Change -- Behind LA Wildfires
January 17, 2025
Right-wing media are trying to delegitimize climate change as a real and growing threat to the West Coast, just as that threat becomes most evident. Several unusual January wildfires have been burning in Los Angeles County since January 7. Despite the clear connection between global warming and the increasingly dry conditions that lead to fire hazards, right-wing media are following their familiar playbook and blaming what they call California’s “failed” policies for the ongoing crisis.
Californians are struggling to control ongoing fires, as U.S. communities are ill-prepared for year-round extreme weather
- The two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, have collectively burned over 164,000 acres of Los Angeles County. Nearly 173,000 people are under evacuation warnings or orders in LA County, at least 25 people have died, and over 17,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. The Palisades fire was 19% contained and the Eaton fire was at 45% containment as of publication. [Los Angeles Times, 1/14/25; Cal Fire, accessed 1/15/25; ktla.com, 1/14/25; NBC Los Angeles, 1/14/25]
- Like in many other cities, LA’s municipal water system is not designed to handle multiple massive fires at once. Reports that the hydrants being used to put out the fires were running low spurred misinformation about water shortages due to a lack of reservoirs or related to California’s water policies that divert water from Northern California to Southern California. These rumors proved to be misleading: Even though there is enough water, there isn’t enough pressure to get water to go where firefights need it most. As the LAist has noted in the past, “Fire hydrants have also run dry in the case of other wildfires that spread to urban areas, including the 2017 Tubbs Fire, 2024’s Mountain Fire and 2023’s Maui wildfires.” [Media Matters, 1/10/25; The LAist, 1/9/25, 8/15/23]
- The two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, have collectively burned over 164,000 acres of Los Angeles County. Nearly 173,000 people are under evacuation warnings or orders in LA County, at least 25 people have died, and over 17,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. The Palisades fire was 19% contained and the Eaton fire was at 45% containment as of publication. [Los Angeles Times, 1/14/25; Cal Fire, accessed 1/15/25; ktla.com, 1/14/25; NBC Los Angeles, 1/14/25]
- Forecasters were predicting more of the dry and intense Santa Ana winds that were fueling the fires. The winds, which typically occur during the colder months, are severely impeding efforts to contain the fires. NBC Los Angeles reported that “planes dumping water and retardant on impacted areas have been unable to take to the sky at times since the fires began because of the dangerous conditions presented by the winds.” On January 14 and 15, Los Angeles was expecting winds of up to 65 mph. As of January 14, the National Weather Service had declared red flag warnings, signaling “an increased risk of fire danger,” as well as a “particularly dangerous situation” for parts of the area, which National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld said is “one of the loudest ways that we can shout.” [National Weather Service, accessed 1/14/25, 1/14/25; NBC Los Angeles, 1/13/25; NPR, 1/8/25; Los Angeles Times, 1/13/25]
- U.S. communities and infrastructure are ill-prepared for the climate-fueled extreme weather events that are now happening year round. On X, CBS national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti posted, “American homes were built for an environment that no longer exists. This - like all of the disasters this century, from Florida to Hawaii - must be a call to action. This is the second time in one month Malibu was hit by fire.” Chad Hanson, a forest and fire ecologist and the president of the John Muir Project, told the Los Angeles Times, “The fact is that forest management is not stopping weather- and climate-driven fires.” Carlos Martín, an expert on housing adaptation and climate change, told Fast Company that cities are relying on the federal government because “the resources just aren’t there locally, and the damages are way more than anybody ever anticipated.” Martín said climate change mitigation and adaptation will be key in preparing for future disasters. “It’s like taking a pill to prevent the disease versus getting the disease treated afterwards. That’s the way we have to start thinking about these events: What we used to think of as individual crises [are now] chronic things,” he added. [Media Matters, 1/10/25; Twitter/X, 1/8/25; Los Angeles Times, 8/21/21; Fast Company, 1/11/25]
- Forecasters were predicting more of the dry and intense Santa Ana winds that were fueling the fires. The winds, which typically occur during the colder months, are severely impeding efforts to contain the fires. NBC Los Angeles reported that “planes dumping water and retardant on impacted areas have been unable to take to the sky at times since the fires began because of the dangerous conditions presented by the winds.” On January 14 and 15, Los Angeles was expecting winds of up to 65 mph. As of January 14, the National Weather Service had declared red flag warnings, signaling “an increased risk of fire danger,” as well as a “particularly dangerous situation” for parts of the area, which National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld said is “one of the loudest ways that we can shout.” [National Weather Service, accessed 1/14/25, 1/14/25; NBC Los Angeles, 1/13/25; NPR, 1/8/25; Los Angeles Times, 1/13/25]
There is ample evidence that climate change is creating hazardous conditions that supercharge existing wildfires in the Western US
- On MSNBC, UCLA climate scientist and Southern California climate expert Daniel Swain explained that “the level of vegetation and landscape scale dryness” was at “highly anomalous, even record-breaking levels.” Swain continued: “This year, there has been virtually no rainfall at all in the LA region, even as we head towards mid-January. That is extremely unusual.” He added that strong winds typically arrive after the first rainfall of the season. On top of that, “the extreme heatwaves that we saw in the same region this past autumn” set the stage for intense winds to cause extensive damage. [MSNBC, Chris Jansing Reports, 1/8/25]
- One peer-reviewed 2016 study found that “human-caused climate change caused over half of the documented increases in fuel aridity since the 1970s and doubled the cumulative forest fire area since 1984.” The study found drought as a result of human-caused climate change caused vegetation to become significantly more dry and flammable over the span of about 45 years, leading to more forested areas burning. [The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10/10/16]
- Attribution studies have shown that climate change has increased the severity or likelihood of extreme heat, drought, and wildfires on the West Coast. According to Carbon Brief, which covers climate science, “Attribution studies calculate whether, and by how much, climate change affected the intensity, frequency or impact of extremes.” In one such 2023 study, California researchers found that “nearly all of the observed increase in BA [burned area] over the past half-century is attributable to” human-caused climate change. [Carbon Brief, 11/18/24; The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 6/12/23]
- On MSNBC, UCLA climate scientist and Southern California climate expert Daniel Swain explained that “the level of vegetation and landscape scale dryness” was at “highly anomalous, even record-breaking levels.” Swain continued: “This year, there has been virtually no rainfall at all in the LA region, even as we head towards mid-January. That is extremely unusual.” He added that strong winds typically arrive after the first rainfall of the season. On top of that, “the extreme heatwaves that we saw in the same region this past autumn” set the stage for intense winds to cause extensive damage. [MSNBC, Chris Jansing Reports, 1/8/25]
Right-wing media misleadingly told viewers that climate change had no impact on the fires and has simply been a distraction from more important problems
- In reaction to a CNN segment that questioned why more people aren’t searching for the term “climate change” on Google as the fires make headlines, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles falsely claimed, “That’s happening because there is no connection between the wildfires and climate change.” He continued: “They’re not drawing the connection between those two things because those things are unrelated.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 1/14/25]
- On Fox Business, anchor Cheryl Casone highlighted the Wall Street Journal editorial board’s attack on meteorologists for pointing out concerning weather patterns that lead to wildfires because “California has had those types of seasons” and “ a hundred years ago … nobody was talking about carbon emissions.” Calling it a “scathing, scathing attack on Gavin Newsom and the state’s failed policies,” Casone emphasized a part of the editorial that says to “look out for the word — the phrase ‘hydroclimate whiplash.’ They’re going to start blaming the seasons. The Journal points, you know, it was wet, it was wet winter, and then it was a dry summer. Well guess what? The Journal says, you know what, California also had those types of seasons in the 1910s and the 1920s.” [Fox Business, Mornings With Maria, 1/14/25]
- On Fox News, OutKick’s Clay Travis misleadingly claimed that because wildfires in California were also widespread in the 1800s, “this isn’t climate change.” According to the University of California, Davis, an estimated 4.5 million areas burned annually in California before the gold rush, but this included widespread controlled burns carried out by Native Americans. In 2020, the New York Times reported “more than five million acres charred in Oregon, California and Washington State.” The Times did not mention controlled burns, and the paper called the fires an “inescapable crisis.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 1/13/25; University of California, Davis, 10/1/20; The Mercury News, 8/24/20; The New York Times, 9/15/20]
- On the podcast Elijahstreams, which claims to host “prophets” and “prophetic guests,” host Steve Shultz and Christian podcast host Johnny Enlow attacked those who are speaking about climate change in connection with the fire, claiming that they’re on “the opposite side of righteousness.” Shultz, a conspiracy theorist who has pushed conspiracy theories, attacked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for voicing these concerns, saying: “So he’s saying this is global warming, I mean, not global warming — they use, this is climate change. … Isn’t it true that when you hear someone shout out that’s what this is, isn’t that almost proof that they're on the opposite side of righteousness?” Enlow also said, “The voice of ‘this is global warming,’ … that’s the big lie. If you want to know the one clear lie of every lie that’s out there is that this has to do with global warming.” [Rumble, Elijahstreams, 1/13/25; Politico, 2/18/21; Media Matters, 10/18/24]
- On Fox Business, Casone said, “I’m sorry, but this has been going on for centuries.” She continued: “The Santa Ana winds have been there for centuries. This isn’t climate change; this is the weather.” [Fox Business, Mornings With Maria, 1/13/25]
- In reaction to a CNN segment that questioned why more people aren’t searching for the term “climate change” on Google as the fires make headlines, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles falsely claimed, “That’s happening because there is no connection between the wildfires and climate change.” He continued: “They’re not drawing the connection between those two things because those things are unrelated.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 1/14/25]
- Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan called the idea of climate change impacts in California “nonsense” because John Steinbeck described drought conditions in his 1952 novel East of Eden. “If you read the great American novel East of Eden, it starts out describing the weather in California,” he said. “The weather in California has not changed. There’s seven years of drought, there’s seven years where it doesn't have drought.” He also claimed that scientists say “climate change has moved the storms to Alaska so we're not getting as many storms. Nonsense. Read the book. It was written a long time ago and yet it describes the weather just as it is.” [The Daily Wire, The Andrew Klavan Show, 1/10/25]
- Daily Wire host Matt Walsh claimed that politicians mentioned climate change as one cause of the fires only because “the climate change narrative gives them an excuse to do nothing.” He continued: “It allows them to sit back and do nothing. That’s why they always want to view every problem as some kind of, you know, huge, all-encompassing systemic issue.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 1/10/25]
- Fox host Laura Ingraham claimed there was “zero proof that man-made carbon dioxide caused these fires” and that they would be used to justify “rezon[ing] certain residential neighborhoods.” She continued: “But, perhaps, this reimagining cities will work to achieve this epic dream of theirs for more high-density housing, putting single family homes out of reach for victims and everyone but really the super rich. All to protect us — it’s for your own good from the ravages of climate change.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/10/25]
- Fox host Greg Gutfeld complained about Democrats “offering platitudes” about climate change in response to the fires, and right-wing comedian Adam Carolla joked that sea levels are “not rising fast enough to put out the fires.” Carolla said, “They’ve been talking about the ocean sea levels rising for 50 years along with climate change, but the sea isn’t rising fast enough to put out the fires that they started through mismanagement.” [Fox News, Gutfeld!, 1/9/25]
- Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said of the fires: “This is actually the opposite of climate change. This is the climate staying the same.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 1/9/25]
- In a radio interview with Fox host Sean Hannity, former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich used climate change denial to try to legitimize his critique of environmental policy in California. Brnovich called the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change “the arrogance of human beings to think that somehow we are radically, you know, changing the environment.” He claimed that “neo-marxist socialists have latched on” to climate change “because they understand this is how you can emotionally control people” and convince them that “we need a bigger federal government, or we need less trees. We need to save snails instead of desalinizing water in Southern California.” [Premiere Radio Network, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/9/25]
- Conservative website PJ Media featured an article titled “People Who Blame All Natural Disasters on Climate Change Should Be Clubbed Like Baby Seals.” [PJ Media, 1/9/25]
- On Fox News at Night, climate denier Steve Milloy said the situation in California happened because Californians don’t prioritize “real life versus all these environmentalist fantasies, the delta smelt being in danger, then climate change.” Milloy blamed the fires on “a lack of reservoirs” because of “environmentalists and the cost, which is because of environmentalists as well. … The whole thing is just a cluster and until Californians start prioritizing real life versus all these environmentalist fantasies, the delta smelt being in danger, then climate change, I'm afraid we're just going to see more of this.” [Fox News, Fox News at Night, 1/8/25; Media Matters, 10/31/21]
- Finnerty said, “These are not once-in-a-generation wildfires. This is not climate change. This is death by DEI.” [Media Matters, 1/9/25]
- Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro said on his show, “When you hear Democrats shout from the rooftops that it’s climate change, understand: That is a misdirect.” He continued: “Even were that true, it would not alleviate their responsibility to mitigate the effects.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 1/9/25]
- Knowles said, “Obviously the sun monster is not to blame for the fires in California. Climate change is the leftist version of ‘the dog ate my homework.’” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 1/9/25]
- Newsmax host Chris Plante said, “The explanation for the fires in California is not climate change and global warming.” He continued: “It's Democrats and their policies, not grooming and cleaning forests. They groom children but not forests.” [Newsmax, Chris Plante The Right Squad, 1/8/25]
- Newsmax host Greg Kelly said that after the fires in LA, he thinks climate change is “all a scam.” Reacting to a video of California Gov. Gavin Newsom discussing how climate change impacts the state, Kelly said, “You know, I never really had my mind made up about climate change. OK climate change, I can accept that. But after this fire and after their behavior, I think it's all a scam. It's — something's wrong here. It is a power grab. It is a money grab.” [Newsmax, Greg Kelly Reports, 1/8/25]
- Fox host Sean Hannity and Leo Terell, whom Trump recently tapped to be senior counsel for the Justice Department, claimed that the idea that climate change played a role in the fires is “a lie.” “It seems like there has been zero forest management by the government at all. Zero. None whatsoever,” said Hannity. Terell later said, “It’s not a priority to the far left. … They focus on denying their responsibility by yelling out climate change. … That’s a lie! It's poor management on the part of the Democrats. They do not look at fire prevention.” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/8/25; Politico, 1/9/25]
- Carolla said on Hannity that “they want to blame everything on climate change but it's really their inaction. That's why we are in this predicament.” “We had a major fire in Malibu three and a half weeks ago,” he said. “It’s not like it was three and a half years ago. This is an ongoing issue, and Newsom likes to say it's now year-round because he wants to talk about climate change, so he’s the first guy who’s aware of it. They want to blame everything on climate change, but it's really their inaction. That's why we are in this predicament.” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/8/25]
- New One America News host and disgraced former Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz claimed that Gov. Gavin Newsom was using the fires as an excuse for “photo ops” and to “blame climate change.” “Wildfires have plagued Newsom's tenure as governor, but instead of acknowledging poor forestry management practices, he's used these disasters as photo ops. He never misses a chance to parade around in his drainpipe jeans and French Laundry-issued, rosé-all-day aviators. Nor would he miss an opportunity to blame climate change, like he did in 2020.” [One America News, The Matt Gaetz Show, 1/8/25]
- Ingraham dismissed the role of climate change to disparage California leaders: “Now the scope of this loss is unfathomable. Although, thankfully, the death toll currently is fairly low, there are many more injured. But forget the climate fanatics. Because natural disasters are always going to happen. Hurricanes, floods, mudslides, droughts, and, yes, wildfires. But disasters in leadership can make what is naturally occurring even worse. And California has suffered more than it should because it has screwed up priorities from top to bottom.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/8/25]
- Carolla said on Hannity that “they want to blame everything on climate change but it's really their inaction. That's why we are in this predicament.” “We had a major fire in Malibu three and a half weeks ago,” he said. “It’s not like it was three and a half years ago. This is an ongoing issue, and Newsom likes to say it's now year-round because he wants to talk about climate change, so he’s the first guy who’s aware of it. They want to blame everything on climate change, but it's really their inaction. That's why we are in this predicament.” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/8/25]
Right-wing media often downplay climate change during destructive fires
- In the summer of 2023, which was plagued by record-breaking heatwaves and fires, right-wing media tried to convince people that concerns about climate change were overblown. When wildfire smoke from Canada choked New York in June 2023, Fox hosts mocked reports and politicians that connected the fire to climate change and blamed environmentalists and poor forest management. Right-wing media tried to convince their audience that extreme summer temperatures were “normal.” [Media Matters, 6/9/23, 7/20/23]
- In August 2023, when fires killed over 100 people in Lahaina, Hawaii, right-wing media similarly dismissed climate change. Fox host Tammy Bruce complained that “some people are already moving into a political dynamic talking about climate change” while herself posing the question, “For really an ancient land that this hasn't happened before, why did it happen now?” [Media Matters, 8/11/23, 8/23/23]
- In the summer of 2023, which was plagued by record-breaking heatwaves and fires, right-wing media tried to convince people that concerns about climate change were overblown. When wildfire smoke from Canada choked New York in June 2023, Fox hosts mocked reports and politicians that connected the fire to climate change and blamed environmentalists and poor forest management. Right-wing media tried to convince their audience that extreme summer temperatures were “normal.” [Media Matters, 6/9/23, 7/20/23]
Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.
