The LA fires have brought out big ol' liars. But why are they doing it?

The fires in LA are horrifying. Thousands upon thousands of people have had to flee their homes. At least five people have died, and that toll is expected to rise. Lives have changed forever. But on Twitter, Musk and his buddies are desperately trying to make this about everything and anything but the obvious: climate change. We know that climate change makes forest fires worse. While it’s not literally sparking the fires (although extreme weather can lead to more lighting strikes), it does create the dry, hot conditions that make fires burn longer, burn more acres, and make them harder to put out. Musk and his buddies, however, are busy blaming “DEI” and, somehow, Ukraine. This makes sense, though. Because it’s not just the oil and gas industry that wants people to stop caring about climate change. AI data centres consume energy and water at a monstrous rate. That’s why, for example, Google’s emissions have skyrocketed. That means tech bros also have a compelling reason to change the channel on climate-related conversations. Let’s talk about it. SUBSCRIBE ✨ SUBSTACK: rachelgilmore.substack.com PATREON: Patreon.com/rachelgilmore READ MORE: https://counterhate.com/research/new-climate-denial/ https://www.wired.com/story/maga-blaming-dei-california-wildfires-conspiracy/ https://www.npr.org/2024/07/12/g-s1-9545/ai-brings-soaring-emissions-for-google-and-microsoft-a-major-contributor-to-climate-change https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/04/25/data-centers-drought-water-use/