Rush Limbaugh falsely claims “it’s absolute bunk” that climate change has worsened the California wildfires

Limbaugh alleges climate science is a conspiracy “to control your behavior … and you have to go along with it if you accept this”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the September 11, 2020, edition of Fox News’ The Rush Limbaugh Show

RUSH LIMBAUGH (HOST): Man-made global warming is not scientific certainty. It cannot be proven, nor has it ever been. Now, the climate of this planet is constantly changing. Whether or not man is responsible — it's bogus.

But they want man to be responsible for it, because they want to control your behavior. If they convince you that your lifestyle choices are the reason why all these fires are firing up out on the left coast, why, what can they tell you? They can tell you to stop anything they want you to do that they say is causing the fires, and you have to go along with it if you accept this.

And it’s absolute bunk. You have nothing to do with these fires. You know who’s responsible for the fires? California and Washington State and Oregon politicians, who have not allowed all these dead trees to be cleared out of there. These forests are nothing but kindling. And if you would go in and clear these forests out, you wouldn’t have fires anywhere near this intense.

“But we can’t touch the forests. No, no, no. That would be messing — no, no, no, we can’t — we can't do that.” Well, yes we can, and we should.

It’s like the energy crisis in California. This is one of the most ridiculous, most unnecessary things that’s happening in America today. There ought be not a single customer should ever have to be without electricity anywhere in the state of California. And yet, mayors in California are sending out tweets to people, which are saying, “Time to unplug appliances you’re not using. Time to turn your thermostat up to 78 or 80 degrees. Time to make sure that you’re not using appliances you don’t —”

This is absurd, and it’s all because they’ve gotten rid of fossil fuels and replaced it with stuff that cannot meet the demands — even minimalist demands on energy that the population of California needs.

In fact, as Tyler Monroe and Allison Fisher explained today:

Fires in California and throughout the West Coast happen every year, but climate change is making the fire season start earlier and the blazes are more intense and destructive -- especially this year. Five of the 10 largest wildfires in California’s history are burning now and at least 10 people have lost their lives so far.