DEI isn’t worsening wildfires. It’s climate change.
Right-wing media falsely blame DEI for worsening the LA wildfires, overlooking the reality of climate change.
Southern California is up in flames.
Since Jan. 7, multiple wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area have taken the lives of 16 people, destroyed or damaged over 10,000 structures, and left entire communities in ruins. These fires—which have been deemed by local officials as the worst in Los Angeles history—remain only 11% contained as of Jan. 11 as firefighters battle diminishing water supplies and relentless high-speed winds, struggling to slow the flames.
Credit: Watch Duty & Southern California Quick Reaction Force via Storyful
Despite these challenges, the Los Angeles Fire Department and its first responders have faced criticism for their inability to stop the fires. While concerns about budgets and dry fire hydrants have been raised, much of the online discourse has fixated on the identity of the city’s fire officials. Notably, users online, including billionaire Elon Musk, have attributed the department’s perceived shortcomings to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, amplifying a divisive narrative.
In particular, scrutiny has been placed on Kristin Crowley, the fire chief of Los Angeles. A 22-year veteran firefighter, Crowley is the first woman and openly gay person to hold the position.
However, commentary like this is all too common during national media stories, says Ian Haney López, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Dog Whistle Politics. Speaking to NPR, López explained how such rhetoric detracts from the real issue:
“The story is something like this: We as a society used to hire on the basis of competence and meritocracy. But that system has been hijacked by powerful minorities. Again and again, we see these efforts to trigger people's latent resentments against groups that historically have been socially marginalized, socially reviled in terms that do not embrace blatant direct bigotry, but that instead seek to clothe themselves in some form of neutrality or even a commitment to fairness or excellence.”
While right-wing social media users fixate on DEI, scientists and environmental experts are pointing to the wildfires as a stark example of the escalating climate crisis. A 2016 study revealed that climate change enhanced the drying of organic matter and doubled the number of large fires in the western United States between 1984 and 2015. Similarly, a 2021 NOAA-supported study concluded that climate change is the primary driver behind the worsening fire weather in the western U.S.
“This is not going to go away tomorrow,” says Debbie Levin, CEO of the Environmental Media Association for 25 years. “We’re still going to have climate change. We’ve had an industrial world since the early 1900s, so this has been going on for 100-plus years into our atmosphere, and we’re dealing with it now. For some reason, there’s still a blindness when it comes to the questions of how local communities need to deal with it.”
Ways to donate to the victims of the wildfires:
Donate to the Red Cross
Donate to United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Donate to Emergency Network Los Angeles
Give to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
California Community Foundation
Donate to the California Fire Foundation
Support the LAFD
Donate pet supplies to Pasadena Humane
Give to World Central Kitchen