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Syracuse and Duke professors say Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda could worsen wildfires

Professors at Syracuse and Duke universities said this week that President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies could exacerbate the wildfires in California.

“We well know Trump does not accept the science of climate change and the reality of climate change. He’s very dismissive of it,” Robert Wilson, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s Geography and the Environment Department, told Newsweek.

“Certainly, I’ve seen no news account over the past week where he’s acknowledged that climate change has played a role in making the wildfires in California worse,” he said.

Wilson called it “discouraging” that Trump is unlikely to “do much to address climate change” or “take the current and emerging threats of climate change, particularly with wildfire, seriously.”

Another professor in Wilson’s department, Jacob Bendix, also criticized Trump’s policies, saying they would directly worsen the wildfire crisis.

“The increased exploitation of fossil fuels that Donald Trump has promised would worsen our already severe wildfire problems. While there are numerous and varied contributing factors for large fires in the western United States and Canada all have one thing in common: dry hot conditions,” he said, according to Newsweek.

“Fires require heat, and they require dry fuel. The higher temperatures are, and the less precipitation there is, the more readily wildfires are ignited and the faster they spread,” he said.

Further, “using fossil fuels adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere,” which results in “climate change,” “higher temperatures,” and “drought,” the professor said.

Therefore, “there is pretty much a direct line from [Trump’s] policies for fossil fuel use to increased wildfire,” he said.

A professor of environmental science at Duke University also said that Trump’s administration is “obviously…going to promote fossil fuels.” However, he is “probably going to take a broader view to energy policy,” Professor James Clark said.

“I think that’s all unknown, but…anything that continues to increase greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere is going to continue to have a big impact on wildfires,” Clark said.

While many academics are focused on the broader implications of Trump’s policies and the wildfires, one professor recently sparked controversy with a more personal and inflammatory comment.

University of Missouri Professor Karen Piper called the destruction of Trump-supporting actor James Woods’ house in the California wildfires “karma,” The College Fix previously reported.

“James Woods’ house is burning down. It’s karma calling,” Piper wrote.

However, she walked back the statement later in an email to The College Fix, saying, “That tweet was before I learned how catastrophic the situation was becoming.”

MORE: Scholar who overhyped climate change’s role in wildfires weighs in on LA blazes

IMAGE: NBC News/Youtube

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