Fire, Wind & Fire

Wildfires raged on over the weekend in the West, with millions of acres burned, thousands displaced, and dozens of lives lost. Aside from fighting climate change, one of the most effective ways to manage these fires is regular controlled burns, which is something indigenous tribes were doing for centuries. 

Two meat processing facilities were fined a measly total of $29,000 after government regulators at OSHA determined that the plants didn’t do enough to protect workers. OSHA has gotten almost 10,000 Covid-related workplace safety requests so far, and these are the only two companies that have been cited and fined. 

And in headlines: controversies surrounding Disney’s “Mulan,” Israel imposes a second nation-wide lockdown, and Mike Bloomberg pledges to donate 100 million to Joe Biden’s Florida campaign.

Show links:

"They Know How To Prevent Forest Fires. Why Won't Anybody Listen?" https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-why-wont-anybody-listen

"To Manage Wildfire, California Looks To What Tribes Have Known All Along" https://www.npr.org/2020/08/24/899422710/to-manage-wildfire-california-looks-to-what-tribes-have-known-all-along