Yahoo News Biden to survey wildfire damage on West Coast tour
President Joe Biden will travel to the West Coast to survey wildfire damage and campaign for California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom as he tries to convince voters to reject the effort to recall him from office.
The White House has said that Mr Biden will first travel to Boise, Idaho on Monday 13 September to visit the National Interagency Fire Centre and then move on to the California capital of Sacramento.
The president will then travel to Long Beach, California to take part in an event with Mr Newsom ahead of the recall election on Tuesday, 14 September.
Mr Biden will finally travel to Denver, Colorado to boost his Build Back Better agenda.
The president is planning on emphasizing the effect that the climate crisis has had on the strength and frequency of wildfires, noting that wildfire seasons have been extended to include the entire year and that the damage done has devastating economic impacts for many Americans.
Part of his pitch to massively expand infrastructure spending is to make sure that it is climate-resilient.
No major wildfires have touched down in Sacramento this year, but California’s emergency firefighting operations are operated out of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento County.
California’s wildfire season is breaking records despite that the year is far from over. Almost 2m acres have already burned and multiple fires have forced residents to leave their homes.
The Caldor Fire still burns, prompting South Lake Tahoe residents to evacuate last week, The Sacramento Bee reported.
The Caldor Fire has destroyed more than 200,000 acres in El Dorado, Alpine and Amador counties. More than 900,000 acres have been ravaged in Butte, Tehama, Plumas, Shasta and Lassen counties because of the Dixie Fire. While firefighters are still fighting both fires, more than half of each fire has been contained.
Mr Biden recently visited Louisiana, New York, and New Jersey to see the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida.
The event with Mr Biden will be the last for Mr Newsom’s “Stop the Republican Recall” campaign. Other major Democratic figures who have campaigned for the governor include Vice President Kamala Harris – a former California senator, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Former President Barack Obama has recorded an ad in support of Mr Newsom.
While Election Day is on Tuesday, more than 6.7m Californians have already voted, according to a ballot tracker from Political Data Inc. Millions more ballots are expected to be cast.
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