Canadian rocker Neil Young took U.S. President Donald Trump to task on Monday over calls to revoke federal funding for forest management. Young, a vocal environmentalist, is one of the thousands of people who lost their home in the ongoing deadly Woolsey fire near Malibu, California.
Trump, per usual, sparked outrage when he tweeted blamed the fires on “gross mismanagement of the forests” seemingly attempting to pave the way for logging and mineral extraction in California.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” Trump tweeted.
In a post to his NeilYoungArchives website, Young pushed back against Trump, stating that “California is vulnerable – not because of poor forest management as DT (our so-called president) would have us think. As a matter of fact this is not a forest fire that rages on as I write this. We are vulnerable because of Climate Change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it.”
“Firefighters have never seen anything like this in their lives,” he added. “I have heard that said countless times in the past two days, and I have lost my home before to a California fire, now another.”
Young continued: “Imagine a leader who defies science, saying these solutions shouldn’t be part of his decision-making on our behalf. Imagine a leader who cares more for his own, convenient option than he does for the people he leads. Imagine an unfit leader. Now imagine a fit one.”
The Woolsey fire has been burning near Malibu since Nov. 8th and has become the most damaging wildfire in the state’s history. The fire has burned more than 92,000 acres, obliterated roughly 370 homes and businesses and killed at least two people.