Energizing the Workforce: The State of our Golden State
Amid a global pandemic, California has been ignited by countless wildfires across the state, mostly in the northern region. Even walking out the front door of my home in the Central Valley, there is a layer of smoke that has settled in the skies enhancing the poor air quality that residents of the valley often face. As of Sunday afternoon, the fires have scorched up to 1,000,000 acres as a result of the triple digit heatwave and up to 12,000 lighting strikes in California.
“And the wildfires are just one of several harrowing disasters afflicting California right now. The state has been scorched by a record-breaking heat wave, with several days in a row of temperatures reaching triple digits in some places, even at night. Temperatures in Death Valley topped 130 degrees Fahrenheit. That heat led to rolling blackouts as utilities struggled to meet cooling demand” (VOX, What Makes CA’s current major wildfires so unusual)
https://twitter.com/Cal_OES/status/1298016578164781056/photo/1- California Office of Emergency Services
California is no stranger to wildfires, especially in more recent years. The map to the right live depiction of how much of the state is currently engulfed in some form of flame. With the heat wave building and the continuous strikes of lighting pummeling through California, we can see that this is a result of one of the biggest threats to us, climate change. The world is changing so rapidly and with climate impacts being at the head of that change, it is more important now. “There's a whole lot of research showing that climate change is going to make the conditions for extreme fire far more likely in the future, you know, not just here in the U.S., but around the world, so more fires burning at greater intensity in more places than ever before” (Nathan Rott, NPR News)
Our work in energy is continuously working to adapt to those changes and create a sustainable future for the communities that we occupy. For us, it is the disadvantaged, hard-to-reach regions of California that are often disproportionately affected to the issues of climate change. This is why our clean energy workforce is so important. The effects of climate change (in the midst of COVID-19 I might add) is why the energy workforce in California is fighting daily how we can make strides to a clean planet for all. This is why policy is important. Community voices are important. Testimonies of real people living through these conditions are important. As members of our communities and of the energy workforce, we need to listen to one another in order to create collaborative and cohesive actions that support our communities.
The phrase “unprecedented times” could not be more relevant than it is today. So what does this mean for us? How do we as the energy community put in effort to solve the climate, racial, and public heath crises that are taking over the state of California? There is no one answer to these questions. However, we must recognize the life altering issues that are present across the state and constantly work to find avenues or solutions that support one another.
To stay updated about the California wildfires visit: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/