Wildfires, blackouts, angry residents and a furious governor. Californians are grappling with a new and very dangerous “normal” — where there are more wildfires than before and more uncertainty about how the government, utilities and residents deal with them. For many, life can’t continue as it used to. Some are buying generators, some are stocking up on emergency supplies, and some are leaving the state.

But many Californians are also facing an uncomfortable reckoning: No one is going to save us, and whatever we come up with to respond to the unending cycle of fires is going to be expensive and we may not like it.

This video is of a panel that looked at strategies for adapting to this new reality and what the state is doing to address this intractable problem. If you’re wondering if you should harden your home against fire or who’s paying for what, if you have questions about zoning to minimize building in high-fire areas, or if you just want to understand what we’re dealing with and how, you’ll want to watch.

Open this link to watch the video.

The event was part of the CalMatters PolicyMatters event series. It was held in San Francisco on Tuesday, November 12, 2019.

The panelists are:

• State Sen. Bill Dodd: California District 3-Napa
• Rebecca Miller: PhD Candidate, Stanford University, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources
• Steve Nielsen: Homeowner, Wildfire Survivor
• Dave Winnacker: Fire Chief, Moraga-Orinda Fire District

The moderator, Julie Cart, joined CalMatters as a projects and environment reporter in 2016 after a long career at the Los Angeles Times. In 2009 she and colleague Bettina Boxall won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their series on wildfires in the West. Read the series here.