U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the United States was behind in preparing for what could be a record number of forest fires this year because of drought and high temperatures and pledged to pay federal firefighters more.
Biden held a virtual meeting with governors of western states in an event designed to show the White House treating wildfires – which have grown by at least 100 incidents each year since 2015 – as no less a national emergency than hurricanes.
“The truth is we’re playing catch up. This is an area that has been under-resourced, but that’s going to change if we have anything to do with it,” Biden said.
Biden has warned of increasingly …
Keep on reading: Biden pushes climate spending as U.S. braces for wildfire disaster