Thousands Flee California Fires Fostered by Red Tape and Lawsuits

300,000 people have fled their homes in California owing to out-of-control fires that have consumed more than 384 square miles of land. Those fires occurred in large part because environmental lawsuits and obstructionism make it impossible to clean up the dead, brittle trees and vegetation that fuel forest fires (through forest thinning). Environmental lawsuits and challenges cost the Forest Service alone $250 million per year.

CEI Scholar R.J. Smith frequently goes on TV to discuss how environmental lawsuits foster out-of-control forest fires, as you can see here and here.