Wildfires in California are growing in size and intensity, and posing more risks to people and properties. We explore the policies and challenges the state faces fighting fires.
In 2025, devastating California wildfires in LA became the state's most destructive. Climate goals faced federal opposition as Trump blocked clean-car mandates. Refineries closed, water conflicts intensified, and legislators passed compromises.
One of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, the Camp Fire is among the many natural disasters that have upended student learning over the past decade.
Federal prosecutors say faulty Edison equipment sparked the January wildfire that burned 8,000 acres. The company had already been investigating that possibility.
The Eaton Fire’s cause is still under investigation, but Southern California Edison is planning to launch a fund to compensate those affected. Survivors say the utility is trying to “buy us off.”
The land at stake ranges from dense, remote coastal forests in the far north, to alpine conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, to Southern California’s great expanses of brush. Experts dispute whether revoking the two-decade-old rule would help prevent wildfires.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to extend California's landmark cap and trade program through 2045. But earmarking half of this year's funds to the beleaguered rail project and Cal Fire would leave too little for other climate projects, critics say.