Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum just delivered a brutal takedown of California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Left’s radical climate agenda.
Speaking on Pod Force One, Burgum dismantled decades of failed environmental policies that have turned California’s forests into powder kegs, arguing that wildfires have undone every ounce of so-called “progress” Democrats claim to have made on climate control.
The California wildfires, which have destroyed thousands of homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate, were exacerbated by strong winds, increased population density, and Governor Gavin Newsom’s failures in managing forests and conducting controlled burns.
Claims about failing to fill reservoirs for hydrants are substantiated and result from two sources: infrastructure and demand issues, as well as mismanagement of water resources.
While there is no evidence that DEI initiatives hindered the response, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley has emphasized DEI as a priority and implied a focus on increasing diversity in hiring rather than hiring the best candidates.
Mismanagement of forests has been one of the greatest contributors to the devastating effects of the fires, exacerbated by the limited implementation of controlled burns.
Controlled burns, or prescribed fires, are a vital forest management practice that involves intentionally igniting specific forest areas under controlled conditions to reduce excess vegetation, which serves as fuel for wildfires.
Despite their importance, California has struggled to use this preventive measure effectively. In 2024, the U.S. Forest Service temporarily halted prescribed burns, citing the need to allocate resources for active wildfire suppression.
Earlier this year, comedian Adam Carolla went viral in a video where he talked about how horrible the rebuild process would be for the victims of the California fires because of progressive policies in the state. Carolla said:
So here’s what’s going to happen. All these people who are deep blue Democrats are now going to have to pull a permit to rebuild, and they’re going to get the 28 year old bitch from the Coastal Commission telling them to go fuck off and then they’re going to vote for Trump or whoever’s Trumpian next.
When they start getting the regulation, they’re going to go nuts. And when they start running into the bureaucracy and the red tape, they’re going to start going nuts and they’re going to vote for Rick Caruso next time.
California Governor Gavin Newsom tried to get out in front of this and said that the red tape would be cut and building permits would flow freely in order for these people to rebuild their lives and their homes.
And yet… Gavin Newsom appeared on CNN and explained that people ‘can’t rebuild the same.’ Newsom suggests that there is a new reality due to the ‘science’ and climate change, and that all of that has to be taken into account as people rebuild.
In other words, Adam Carolla was right. Newsom and other authorities in California may be handing out building permits, but it’s pretty clear that there will still be red tape and new rules for rebuilding.
During a recent appearance on Pod Force One, Burgum pointed out the shocking hypocrisy of California Democrats who preach about “climate change” while their own policies fuel the infernos that devastate the state year after year.
Doug Burgum:
“The fuel load buildup that’s occurred in American forests can actually go back to the Clinton era. There was a famous effort at the beginning of the environmental extremist movement that said, “Oh, the spotted owl! We can’t cut any more trees because of the spotted owl.” This was part of the weaponization of the Endangered Species Act.By shutting down our forests, we destroyed our position in the timber milling industry. We killed rural communities that were dependent on timber. But the private sector was willing to step in—because when we did a timber lease, they wrote a check to the government. With oil and gas leases, they pay us for the opportunity, and then they pay a royalty on top of it. These are ongoing, sustainable revenues.
In forestry, they would clear roads, do the thinning, and take care of all the work needed to manage the forest. So when a fire did happen, it wouldn’t burn at the super-mega heat levels we see today.
…It’s not environmental. A forest that’s clean can survive a fire because the healthy trees survive, and that can be positive. Controlled burns have a positive role. But these out-of-control, super-hot mega-fires do kill forests.
Now we are burning more timber every year in America than we harvest—and we’re importing timber. Accidentally, right? So uncontrolled fires consume more of our asset base. We then spend money trying to stop those fires, as opposed to being paid money by the private sector.
We—the citizens, the public owners—should be receiving revenue, not expending expenses fighting fires. The amount of timber we’ve stopped harvesting equals about the same amount we now import. So we’re also paying for imported timber.
And if people do care about CO₂ releases—when a forest burns, these are massive CO₂ releases. That’s how you release CO₂ from a tree—you burn it. When you have a campfire, you’re releasing that carbon. The fires in California have released more CO₂ than all of their so-called efforts to “control” CO₂.”
WATCH:
.@SecretaryBurgum on forest mismanagement in the United States over the years:
“By shutting down our forests, we killed our position in timber milling, we killed rural communities… The fires in California have released more CO2 than all of their efforts to control CO2.” pic.twitter.com/voT9lcZYbS
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 3, 2025
The post Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum TORCHES Gavin Newsom — Says California Fires Released More CO2 Than All Their So-Called Climate Controls! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.