Picking side in climate debate won't fix fire threat
The reality is, the only way forward is for climate advocates and controlled burn advocates to work together.
Opinion
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THOUSANDS of people are displaced, lives have been lost, livelihoods destroyed, wildlife annihilated and we are still blaming each other.
The reality is, the only way forward is for climate advocates and controlled burn advocates to work together.
We need to stop acting as though one argument must trump/cancel out the other.
A lack of hazard reduction burning has created a build-up of fuel which has made many regional areas impossible to defend.
A changing climate is something we need to be taking seriously.
Scott Morrison's decision to head to Hawaii was tone deaf.
Many would argue this still pales in comparison to the decisions of state department heads across NSW, Victoria and Queensland who have damned whole regions by enforcing draconian fire permit laws and refusing to burn the bush.
If only we prosecuted fire criminals as passionately as we have prosecuted the Prime Minister.
If only people on both bandwagons channelled their passion into first helping the people suffering through this and their fury into demanding a national action plan for what needs to happen to ensure history never repeats itself.
Once everything has been done to help with the immediate emergency and the smoke has cleared, we cannot deal with another minute of finger pointing without results.
While there may not be many past examples of such widespread, sustained carnage, there is a clear guide for how to reduce hazards.
People who believe climate change is a global emergency and catastrophic fires are the new norm should be the ones who are most concerned about the amount of untamed land in their paths.
Learning from the past is as important as planning for the future.
Originally published as Picking side in climate debate won't fix fire threat
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