Congressman Fred Upton is urging leaders in Washington to discuss ways that wildfires can be prevented. He addressed a meeting of the House Energy Subcommittee on Tuesday, telling members better forest management and electrical infrastructure improvements would prevent wildfires.
“I am also interested to learn more about how utilities can improve preparation with more accurate forecasting, more proactive maintenance and tree clearing, and more sensors and automated equipment to improve visibility on their systems,” Upton said. “There is a big role for technology here, so we need to be thinking about how to innovate and drive these new ideas into practice.”
Upton said there “is no question that the biggest driver of the recent wildfires is decades of mismanagement of our nation’s forests,” adding “climate change is playing a role, but the evidence suggests that our direct impact to the land and the way we manage our forests has a lot to do with the situation we are facing today.” Upton said the committee should advise states on better practices they could follow to prevent fires, including how to avoid permitting problems.
