The International Association of Fire Fighters has come out against the Bush Republican budget of 3.1 trillion dollars, because although the budget has swelled to record-breaking levels in order to funnel money to weapons merchants and to give special tax breaks to corporations and wealthy individuals, the budget actually cuts vital community safety programs, such as grants to ensure adequate firefighting capabilities across America.
The Bush budget cuts 190 million dollars from SAFER grants, eliminating the grants entirely. SAFER stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response. Here’s how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) describes the SAFER grants: “…to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained, “front-line” firefighters available in their communities.”
In these times, it’s especially vital to have a large number of trained firefighters available. Over the last couple of decades, the number and severity of wildfires in the United States has risen dramatically. This rise has been strongly linked to human-caused climate change. That link isn’t just a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of science – and the increase in the wildfire problem is a fact beyond dispute.
When things get really rough in the Western states, firefighters from across the rest of the country are called upon to travel to help get the blazes under control. If those firefighters aren’t available, then the wildfires burn out of control for longer periods of time, destroying more homes, killing more people.
Lives are at stake when it comes to the SAFER grants, but George W. Bush and his Republican allies don’t seem to care much about that – not in the larger scheme of things, when political kickbacks to his corporate supporters are to be considered.
Why can’t these firefighting grants be continued? Bush wants to pay to maintain subsidies to go to big oil corporations instead…
…the same big oil corporations that push fossil fuels… that intensify global warming… that makes wildfires more common and more severe… and make necessary the SAFER grants that are being cut… to provide subsidies to the big oil corporations…
Pardon me, but I need to end this article. I’m suffering from a case of political whiplash.
