burning man

Take a look at the NASA pictures and you can see that the Northern part of the Central Valley is covered in smoke. Over 1,000 fires are burning all over Northern California. The air is so thick you can barely breathe. You can look straight at the sun. An orange ball high in the sky. Sort of like a perpetual sunset. A preview of things to come?

Wildfire is an integral part of California's ecosystem. It has been here for as long as we know. But human intervention has clearly changed the equation. And not for the better I might add. Whereas periodic smaller fires cleared out the underbrush on a regular basis, intense fire-fighting efforts have stopped the natural process in its tracks. Always eager to protect their homes and the surrounding scenery that is responsible for home-values, humans have put an end to a natural form of growth control. Instead of many little fires, we now get fewer enormous ones.

We also interrupted the natural cycle of fire that many native species need for reproduction. As a result native species with good fire-resistance have disappeared and were quickly replaced by non-native species that in many cases burn hotter and are more destructive. But we did not just shortchange reproduction. In many cases, we destroyed the natives outright. California redwoods were turned in mansions and replaced by fast growing, resin and oil-filled Eucalyptus. Ever seen dry Eucalyptus burn? They explode.

Meanwhile fire fighters are doing whatever they can to save the rich McMansions. Battling night and day until exhaustion sets in. Hoping to make it out alive. With the constant whir of helicopters overhead, dumping water that we don't have or can ill afford onto the towering flames. "We have the best fire fighters in the world," says Arnold the governator. What else is there to say? We are engaged in epic battles against nature. An ill-suited form of nature that we have created and sustained.

Fires in California, flooding in the mid-West, what's next? Hurricanes in the Gulf? All are aggravated by our present neglect of the environment. And all are made worse by our insistence to build in areas that are not well suited for human habitation. At least not the type of human habitation that we like to see. Unfortunately that is not how proud home owners feel. They feel it is their right to build wherever and however they want. They also feel we should defend their homes against any and all disasters even if they had a hand in making them worse. And they also feel entitled to ask for money so they can rebuild their dwellings. And every time they rebuild, they rebuild bigger and better.

That is what happened in Oakland, in Tahoe, and wherever else fire has struck. Rebuild but rebuild bigger. What else is there to do with the insurance money, the FEMA money, the emergency funding and all the goodwill and sympathy lavished on the victims?