Close to Home: Building for a greener future

Four years ago, the Tubbs fire ignited in the Napa Valley and spread across Napa and Sonoma counties. It was the most destructive wildfire in California history — 5,600 homes and buildings, including entire neighborhoods, burned to the ground, and 22 people were killed.

A year later, the Camp fire destroyed 18,000 structures and killed 85 people — more than three times the Tubbs toll, and still the most ruinous in state history.

In 2020, the LNU Lightning Complex fire burned 363,000 acres across four of the five counties in the 5th Congressional District, killing six residents. It was the fourth-largest fire by acreage in state history at the time. That same month, the August Complex Fire incinerated more than a million acres and killed one firefighter; it remains California’s largest-ever fire.

Of the 20 most destructive wildfires in California history, 15 have occurred in the past six years. By acreage, four of the 20 largest have occurred this year alone.

Our state is on fire, and it’s getting worse. And we’re not alone — between fires, droughts and hurricanes, it seems a third of our country is on fire, a third is underwater, and a third is in a drought.

Study after study has shown that the increasing size and scope of fires in our state and region are linked to climate change. Because of climate change, fire season is on average three months longer and the number of fires each year has tripled.

And it’s not just fires. The U.S. Geological Survey predicts that rising global temperatures due to climate change will only increase the likelihood of these intense disasters and bad droughts. Climate change is making our disasters more dangerous and more frequent.

Fortunately, Congress has a chance to seize the moment. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the climate crisis, defend against future disasters and create thousands of well-paying jobs in the process.

President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan makes sweeping, long-overdue investments in our nation’s human and physical infrastructure. And, crucially, the plan calls for aggressive action against climate change: transitioning away from fossil-fuel dependence, accelerating our embrace of clean and renewable energy sources and prioritizing American jobs, American workers and American innovation.

That is why last month, as part of the Build Back Better Act, House Democrats advanced the Green Act, legislation of mine making the largest investment in renewable energy and decarbonization in U.S. history.

The bill builds upon existing tax structures to provide long-term incentives for renewable energy production through tax credits for investments in solar, wind, geothermal or hydropower, for example, and invests in storage and transmission to unlock the potential of renewable energy across the nation while making local communities more resilient to disruptions from natural disasters.

The bill helps consumers purchase electric vehicles and sets us on the path to green everything, from school buses and trash trucks to farming equipment and aviation. Many of these credits would be available in part as direct payments, ensuring the rapid deployment needed to meet our climate goals.

The bill also assists homeowners and property owners in investing in making their homes greener and more resilient. From putting a wind turbine on a farm, to purchasing a new energy-efficient heating system, to managing forests to reduce wildfire risk.

The bill also invests in domestic advanced manufacturing to ensure that American workers make the products we use in the green transition. It also includes strong labor standards that will ensure that these incentives result in good-paying jobs right here at home.

Climate change is the most existential threat we face. We can’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, represents California’s 5th Congressional District.

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