John Podesta Blames Climate Change for Maui Fire, Touts Inflation Reduction Act as Solution

John Podesta, the Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, took to the White House briefing room podium on Wednesday to blame climate change for the Maui wildfire and to tout the Inflation Reduction Act.

Claiming that the summer had brought “one climate disaster after another,” Podesta connected hot temperatures to the fires in Maui, though there is no direct evidence linking climate change to the disaster. The biggest environmental factor — as the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported — was the spread of invasive alien grass species, which are more flammable than the indigenous vegetation of Hawaii, and which used a recent wet winter to grow rapidly, providing even more fuel for the flames.

Podesta then claimed: “To stop these disasters from getting even worse, we have to cut the carbon pollution that is driving the climate crisis, and that’s what the Inflation Reduction Act is all about.” President Joe Biden recently admitted to donors that the “Inflation Reduction Act” was misnamed, and that it was really about subsidizing and funding “climate change” spending.

Asked later in the briefing about prominent failures of “green” companies, Podesta ascribed that to the natural failure rate of any kind of investment. He did not address the administration’s role in Proterra, an electric bus company that failed last week.

Podesta, who was President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, is a well-known left-wing activist and Democratic staffer, responsible for helping to build and maintain a network of left-wing institutions. He also chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Podesta spoke as the death toll in Maui continued to rise, and reports emerged warning that hundreds of children might be dead.

The proximate cause of the Maui fire is unknown, though exposed power lines in high winds are thought to be a possible factor.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.