Let me ask you, Governor Insley,
you know you've been.
Talking about the impacts of
environmental change for a long,
long time, and one of the things
and I asked him to show me,
get me a map of where all your
fires are in your state and when
you have Delancey and and and and
Cub Creek to and Cedar Creek,
I mean they're massive fires, massive.
And what are you know?
As you look at what's transpired
over the past month.
And you look at the road
ahead of this wildfire.
See what is your biggest concern?
J. What is your biggest concern?
And again ask the same question
what is the thing we can do most?
I mean you go all the way from
the lancey down to Lick Creek.
As they say, the Creek.
You know, down in the southwest
southeast part of your state.
What are what are your biggest concerns?
Well, First off, thanks for
your leadership, Mr. President.
It is so refreshing to have a president
who really cares about the Western forest.
My biggest concern might surprise
you because all of the governors
share these immediate concerns.
We have a huge need for
additional aerial assets.
Additional Dozer boss is so we can
get our dozers into fire lines.
We need new, trained, more trained people.
We do have an emerging concern about
our fuel supply for our aerial assets.
Everything we need.
To fight Forest fires is in dire need
across the western United States,
not just in Washington state.
We've had 1000 fires.
It's burned four times more
at this time of year.
The normal.
We've had two and a half times more acreage
burned in the last decade and the previous,
so those are the obvious concerns and
everything you need to fight a fire.
We we could use your help on,
and I think you've been totally
on top of this.
And so I, I thank you for your
leadership on on all of these things.
Including management issues,
there is unanimity.
There's bipartisan acceptance of
the need for active management.
We're actually we're managing our forests,
just like Montana is to try to
get in and reduce fuel.
But here's the surprising thing.
When you asked me this question,
and the thing that I worry most
about the thing I worry most
about is if for some reason.
Uh,
the Congress did not follow your
leadership in this reconciliation
and infrastructure bills that
allowed you to realize your vision
of creating millions of jobs
while fighting climate change.
That's my biggest worry right now
because the fact of the matter is,
there is nothing in human
intervention against these fires.
While climate continues
to ravage our forests.
You know,
we used to think of these things are for us.
They really now it just feels a fuel
and their fields of fire with just
one spark because they're so dry and
that aridity creates something like
gasoline on the floor of our forest.
There is only one way to prevent
these forests from being gone
in the in the next century,
effectively to be totally unrecognizable,
and that is to succeed in in following
your vision and the reconciliation
bill for a clean energy standard for a
huge transition to the electrification
of our transportation fleet.
To a civilian climate core,
and so I want to tell you we are
going to be with you as you stand
tall while you negotiate this
reconciliation bill to say look,
we have to have those climate investments.
There is only one way to save these
forests from the ravages of climate.
Our own federal scientists have said
that if we accept 1 degree centigrade,
change will have 600% increase in
these fires on a regular basis.
We won't recognize these.
Forests as forests anymore.
Unless we succeed with your vision.
So when you start having
those discussions with Mr.
Kleinen and Steve are shedding
everywhere else at the end of
the reconciliation process.
You gotta know you're going
to have an army behind you
standing tall for those things.
Now there's some other small
things that I I'm talking to your
staff about about having better
independent assistance for towns
like Mauldin that burned down.
There's some other coordination,
but that's the thing that's going
to ultimately decide whether these
forests survive in the next century.
Thanks for your leadership Mr Prez.