Feds Deaf to CA Pleas

If you recall the (non-)response of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to California's electricity crisis of 2001, this will sound familiar. In April of this year, Gray Davis put in a request with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for financial aid to clear California's fire zones of dead trees felled by the recent bark beetle infestation. This was a serious issue: on Mt. Palomar this summer you could see that about 50% of the big trees were dead or dying, and in consequence the Observatory made sure there were crews out most of the summer clearing the dead wood.

However, after taking six months (all of summer and most of fall) to "consider" the request, FEMA denied it. Last Friday. As the first wildfires were already burning.