Discuss Tim Rutten's Oct. 15 Op-Ed column

Rutten is right in the end. As far as global warming goes, it may be real but all it's really doing is delaying the next inevitable ice age. Might actually be a good thing in that sense! Either way, I love my yard, my space, my privacy, and I wouldn't want it any other way- no matter what.

Joe @ 10:14 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Emerging wild fires are not given in stone. Society needs to be better prepared; that could be a market niche for small businesses. However, public funds are lacking? Those funds are to encourage more professional involvement from the end of citizens.

Rolf Siegen @ 9:36 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Yaqui, You get it almost right. Anthropogenic fires were indeed a part of the landscape but to what degree is still debated by academics. You are correct in stating that lightning fires did occur but not likely associated with Santa Anas. Your fuel load argument works for forests but fuel loads in shrub-lands aren't to blame here. Its man-made fire in high winds that'll quickly carry despite the age of the chaparral. See: http://www.californiachaparral.com/chaparralfacts.html

Dubby @ 5:03 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Actually, Los Angeles does sit on a river. It's just that we've outgrown its capacity.

kristin @ 3:13 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

First, it’s “millennia,” not “millenniums.” You dismiss the solid arguments against exurban growth by noting their repetition, and then turn logic on its head by noting that weather and fire conditions that should forbid sprawl predate sprawl. Let’s leave global warming and the imminent permanent spike in global oil prices out of the exurbia debate. Let’s look at the costs. It costs too much every year to rescue far flung commuter communities built in the heart of fire country. The state's going bankrupt. Move back, commuters! It's fun in the heart of this urban jungle.

Paul Lacques @ 1:54 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Lightning during a Santa Ana condition? What was natural thousands of years ago were peoples who tended these lands. Anthropogenic fire was one of the tools they used to acheive this. Those small man-made fires were lit in the cooler and wetter months to avoid the conflagration you always get this time of year. Thanks to the mismanagement of the environment that now surrounds you, mega-fires are the result and not global warming. It's the over build-up of FUELS!!! This Summer the LAT ran a series of articles on the high costs of fire suppression and that we should just "let it burn" to save money. Hey Tim, how about Los Angeles now too?

Yaqui @ 1:18 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Wake up and realize that Global Warming is a hoax. God is fed up as we have taken him out of everything. This great country was founded on His principles.

Rhonda @ 12:01 PM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Tim, whose work I deeply respect, fails to deal with the cost to taxpayers for fire crews and other evacuation costs associated with these recurrent blazes.

Janine @ 11:49 AM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

Rutten must be one of them, thar Hollyweird librals! How could the Indians have seen fires 8,000 years ago? St. Sarah of Wasilla tells us that The Earth was created only 6,004 years ago. How could anyone that thinks that The Flintstones is a documentary possibly be wrong?

Unindicted Co-conspirator @ 11:18 AM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

These points are well-taken, but you might mention that the duration and intensity of wildfires has been increasing steadily in recent years, due to global warming -- something the "natural cycle" paradigm does not address.

Terry Black @ 9:45 AM PDT, Oct 15, 2008

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