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By Jeff Mason
LOUISVILLE, Kolo. (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden, who is visiting the site of the most devastating fire in Colorado, said on Friday that a rare winter fire reminded him of his “red code” about the changing climate he wanted to deal with. renewable energy agenda.
“We can’t ignore the fact that these fires are overloading” as a result of global warming, Biden said after visiting a neighborhood in the Louisville town of Denver, devastated by last week’s devastating Marshall Fire.
Two people were missing and feared dead after wind-blown pasture fires burned more than 1,000 homes from Dec. 30 to 31, making it the most devastating fire in Colorado in terms of property loss.
In Boulder County, just north of the Denver metropolitan area, it burned 6,000 acres and destroyed parts of Louisville and the surrounding Superior town. Driven by strong winds, the flames engulfed the northern part of the landscape, the size of a football field, in seconds.
Biden’s trip to Boulder County was his second as president of Colorado and his second focused on fires.
Under the bright sunny skies, President Jill Biden and the first lady walked through a Louisville suburb ruined by fire, where black debris and tree trunks crashed into a snow cover. The fire briefly spoke with emergency personnel and displaced families.
The president, paused to embrace some residents and put his hand on the shoulders of others, was joined by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and three members of the state congressional delegation on the tour.
“We lost everything,” one man said. Biden gave him a hug.
Addressing first responders and community members at a nearby recreation center, Biden said he saw that he was as moved as the scope of the disaster “by the tremendous courage and determination you all show.”
“We’ll make sure everything you need happens,” Biden told the crowd.
The fire was the latest in a series of devastating fires in Colorado and elsewhere in the West, experts say, which are symptoms of an extreme drought and rising temperature associated with climate change.
“The situation is red code for our nation,” Biden said.
Biden also took advantage of the $ 1 trillion for his flagship legislative initiative, the Build Back Better Act, to improve forest management, fight fires, and reduce carbon emissions.
The bill, which was opposed by Republicans, was passed in November by the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats. He still needs to clear the Senate, where he still needs to get the necessary support from all Biden Democrats.
While acknowledging that the measures do not provide immediate consolation to those who survived last week’s fire, he said investing in renewable energy would boost job growth while addressing the threat of more climate-related disasters.
Biden has declared the latest wildfire on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains a national disaster, and has released federal funds to help residents and businesses revitalize their efforts.
The normal Colorado fire season is not usually extended into winter due to snow cover and cold. But climate change and rising global temperatures are leaving vegetation in the western parts of the United States drier and hotter.
According to disaster relief firm Karen Clark & Company, the fire is expected to cost about $ 1 billion.
Local authorities put the value of the property damage at more than $ 500 million.
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