Conservatives blame California wildfires on Delta smelt fish, DEI and more
President-elect Donald Trump inaccurately blamed water shortages in Los Angeles on policies meant to preserve an endangered fish called the Delta smelt.
According to some politicians and influencers, a small fish called the Delta smelt is to blame for the wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area this week.
Prominent figures, including President-elect Donald Trump, said policies related to the endangered Delta smelt affect how much water can be pumped out of the fish’s habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. They added that’s the cause of water supply issues faced by firefighters laboring to stop the blazes. Three water tanks and some fire hydrants temporarily lost water because of high demand Tuesday, local officials said.
The small fish isn’t alone in being the target of blame for the multiple wildfires that had burned across 45 square miles of the city as of Thursday, forcing more than 180,000 people out of their homes. Other people have criticized diversity, equity and inclusion, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s immigration policies or the influence of billionaires on climate change policy.
It’s not clear what initially sparked the fires, and in the absence of reliable information, some of the allegations being made online are misinformed or wrong, experts say. All of them ignore the complexities that caused the fires to spread and the nuanced solutions that would be required to address similar urban wildfires in the future, they add.
Trump was among the most notable leaders to call out the Delta smelt, writing Wednesday on Truth Social that Newsom “refused to sign the water restoration declaration” that would have allowed millions of gallons of water to flow into parts of California, “including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
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