Ex-California governor: Wildfires ‘only a taste of the horror’ of climate change

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is warning that the wildfires ravaging his state could be “only the beginning” without drastic action on climate change.

“I said it was the new normal a few years ago,’’ Brown told Politico. “This is serious …. but this is only the beginning. This is only a taste of the horror and the terror that will occur in decades.’’

{mosads}“And it will occur in various spots: in America, in Africa, in Canada,’’ Brown added. “It’s unpredictable, other than the fact that it will get worse in present trajectory. Washington, under [President] Trump, is doing very little — and even the Congress has been unable to mobilize under Washington.’’

Brown’s statement comes as multiple fires have prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to declare a state of emergency in California and led Pacific Gas & Electric to shut off power to about 2 million residents.

Brown has focused much of his post-gubernatorial activities on climate-related advocacy. Earlier this year, he co-founded the California-China Climate Institute, which aims to develop partnerships between academics, researchers and lawmakers in both the Golden State and Tsinghua University.

While Brown said his own house is unaffected by the power outages due to its use of solar collectors, lithium ion batteries and well water, he expressed concerns about Californians without such advantages.

Noting that outages are dangerous “because you can’t notify many people’’ while they are in effect, he also pointed out that “experts say not turning off the power is dangerous.”

“So you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.”