{"id":134427,"date":"2022-01-07T13:58:57","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T21:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=134427"},"modified":"2022-01-10T08:35:21","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T16:35:21","slug":"president-biden-and-first-lady-jill-biden-on-the-administrations-response-to-recent-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=134427","title":{"rendered":"President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the Administration\u2019s Response to Recent Wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Louisville, Colorado&#8230;Hey, folks.  We\u2019re about to pick the basketball teams right now, so \u2014 (laughter).  I get first pick.  Hey, first of all, I want to thank the team behind me \u2014 the governor; lieutenant governor; the two senators, who\u2019ve been friends for a long time; as well as Joe Neguse, congressman; and your mayor and the sheriff as well.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lNT2VmyjbVw\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Folks, Jill and I and my team have surveyed the damage of the Marshall Fire, and it\u2019s as devastating as it looks on television and as devastating \u2014 as devastating as the many environmental crises I\u2019ve seen in the last \u2014 the last year, in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>You know, we\u2019ve had over $99 billion in loss in the last little over a year. <\/p>\n<p>And, you know, there\u2019s nothing so frightening, in my view, as a fire.  More land has burned in the United States, from California up into the \u2014 Idaho, and here in Colorado, and parts of the South that \u2014 than make up the entire \u2014 if they\u2019re \u2014 in terms of total acreage, as the entire state of New Jersey, had it burned to the ground.  Every single, solitary square acre in New Jersey \u2014 that\u2019s how much has burned.<\/p>\n<p>And I can\u2019t imagine what it\u2019s like to be here in this neighborhood and see winds whipping up to 100 miles an hour and see flames approaching.  Fire, I think, is the most frightening of all (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, 6,000 acres were wiped out here, over 1,000 structures.  But you know what I \u2014 Jill and I have noticed \u2014 what we\u2019ve noticed in other places: the incredible courage and resolve that you all show. <\/p>\n<p>We got a chance to meet with scores of families in the neigh- \u2014 neighborhoods across the street, many of which \u2014 homes you lived in.  And it just is really amazing to see the courage.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, there\u2019s a couple of police officers, including standing behind me, that, in fact, when the fire started, they were called in \u2014 they lost their homes, but they were out helping other people while their homes were burning.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a measure of, I think, who we are as a country.  Homes and businesses destroyed \u2014 both a home and a business destroyed at one of the tables we just met; I don\u2019t want to embarrass anyone.<\/p>\n<p>But at least, you know \u2014 and one life lost that we\u2019re aware of.<\/p>\n<p>And we just walked the streets of Louisville.  And a \u2014 and a whole neighborhood, gone. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s \u2014 but people here and across Boulder County are stepping up for one another.  They\u2019re stepping up. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard stories from some of you who have lost your homes about how people have reached out, what they\u2019ve done, and what more needs to be done.<\/p>\n<p>But, you know, as you know better than I do, there\u2019s parts of this county where people can\u2019t drink the water.  Local business \u2014 so local businesses are stepping up and donating water \u2014 bottled water.<\/p>\n<p>First responders have come to Boulder County from hundreds of miles away to pitch in.<\/p>\n<p>And a water treatment plant was in the path of the fire and \u2014 but one worker there, a man named Greg, barely \u2014 barely and bravely ventured back into the plant, risking his life, for a simple reason.  He manually turned the valves to ensure that there was enough water pressure to \u2014 for the firefighters to be able to do their job.  I mean, people do extraordinary things in extraordinary times.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier today, I met with those firefighters and a number of the first responders.  And, you know, there\u2019s an old expression: God made man, and then he made a few firefighters.  And there\u2019s some truth to that.<\/p>\n<p>I was telling a couple of the law enforcement officers and firefighters that I \u2014 I was raised in a little town \u2014 after we moved from Scranton, Pennsylvania \u2014 called Claymont, Delaware.  Went to a school \u2014 grade school and high school \u2014 across the street from the Claymont Fire Department.<\/p>\n<p>And I \u2014 growing up in my neighborhood, the kids from Brookview Apartments \u2014 you either became a cop, a firefighter, or a priest.  I wasn\u2019t qualified for any, so I became a President.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But all kidding aside, you know, it\u2019s amazing \u2014 amazing what people do in crises.<\/p>\n<p>And my message to them and everyone impacted by this is that, you know, not only are you helping each other, but we\u2019re here with you.  We\u2019re not going to go away.  We\u2019re not \u2014 the federal government is not going to go away.  The governor has been an incredible partner.  Matter of fact, that probably drove him crazy how many times I called him even before he called me, saying, \u201cWhat do you need?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re, you know, declaring a national disaster area.  We\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re going to do everything we possibly can. <\/p>\n<p>The head of FEMA is with me today.  She has run this show in a way I think most people who\u2019ve been engaged in disasters would say is \u2014 is remarkable. <\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re \u2014 you know, we\u2019re going to make sure that everything you need occurs, including clearing all the debris and putting people in a position to be able to rebuild if their insurance provides for it, additional help if their insurance doesn\u2019t, and the kind of help they need in order to get resettled. <\/p>\n<p>But, folks, a number of you have asked, as we\u2019ve gone through the tables and met other people in your \u2014 in your neighborhood is \u201cWhat do we do now?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Well, hang on to one another.  Hang on to one another.  The way you\u2019re going to get through this \u2014 because we\u2019ve been through a few things ourselves \u2014 is just hanging on to one another.  You\u2019ll get through this.  You will get through this, and you\u2019ll be stronger for it. <\/p>\n<p>I know my \u2014 I remember when my mother used to say that, and I\u2019d \u2014 I\u2019d always get angry with her, no matter what it was.  This \u2014 you know, out of something bad, something good will happen if you look hard enough for it.<\/p>\n<p>But hang on to one another.  That\u2019s the way.  You find purpose in what you\u2019ve been through and what you\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n<p>And, folks, look, I intend to do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to support you, your state and local government to help you recover and rebuild these communities. <\/p>\n<p>The commitment began the day the fire started, December 30th, and the governor asked me for some urgent assistance.  And because we had worked earlier, we had gotten a particular satellite in the sky to be able to be focused on you all and see through the smoke and know what was going on. <\/p>\n<p>Well, the truth of the matter is that the commitment began the day the fire started.  We immediately mobilized the federal firefighting equipment, satellite imagery from the Department of Defense, and additional federal personnel to support the response. <\/p>\n<p>When the governor requested the expanded major disaster declaration, we approved it right away on New Year\u2019s Eve.  And to help families directly, we surged resource support for temporary housing, home repairs for those who still had homes, and debris \u2014 debris removal.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, at my request, FEMA opened the Disaster Assistance Center in Lafayette \u2014 the hub to connect families and small businesses directly to what federal support was available. <\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re working closely with Governor Polis to ensure Colorado has every single resource available \u2014 every single resource available to help keep people safe. <\/p>\n<p>And I want to thank the governor and his team \u2014 and I mean this sincerely \u2014 and the Colorado congressional delegation for their leadership. <\/p>\n<p>We rode out the \u2014 a number of the delegation rode out from Washington with me.  And I would say \u2014 it\u2019s not an exaggeration \u2014 they\u2019re mildly proud of their state, mildly proud of their districts.  (Laughter.)  If Neguse tells me one more story about how great this particular area is, I\u2019m moving out here.  (Laughter.)  I \u2014 but \u2014 you\u2019re laughing, Mayor, but I don\u2019t think you want me.  When I come, 120 cars come with me and I don\u2019t think you need it. <\/p>\n<p>But all kidding aside, we really can\u2019t thank them enough.  And their commitment to you is strong, it\u2019s deep, and it\u2019s real. <\/p>\n<p>And, you know, the situation is a blinking code red for our nation, because the combination of extreme drought \u2014 the driest period from June to December ever recorded \u2014 ever recorded; unusually high winds; no snow on the ground to start \u2014 it created a tinderbox \u2014 a literal tinderbox. <\/p>\n<p>And even if it was not in your backyard, you could feel the ripple effects of what happened. <\/p>\n<p>And so, folks, think about when the Grizzly Creek Fire hit Colorado in 2020, helping trigger that massive mudslide that washed out an entire section of I-70, adding hours to people\u2019s drives.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, we can\u2019t ignore the reality that these fires are being supercharged.  They\u2019re being supercharged by a change in the weather. <\/p>\n<p>Not very far from here, I was \u2014 as I was riding out with the governor, I was saying, \u201cGov, this all looks familiar.  I\u2019ve passed over that cemetery.  I\u2019ve passed over that area before.\u201d  It was on my way up to the facility that is one of the most advanced facility that is one of the most advanced facilities in the country \u2014 in not the country, maybe in the world \u2014 to find alternatives to fossil fuels. <\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve got \u2014 by the way, if you\u2019re ever able to see it, we\u2019re going to have windmills, you can \u2014 that you\u2019re going to see that have 100-yard wingspans each \u2014 each propeller on that \u2014 on that windmill, 100 yards long.  So, there\u2019s so much that is going to be able to be done.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, I \u2014 when I visited the National reviewable [sic] Lab- \u2014 Renewable Lab \u2014 Energy Lab \u2014 about 20 miles \u2014 I said \u2014 from here \u2014 it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s also good to create a significant number of jobs. <\/p>\n<p>The reason I\u2019m telling you this is that\u2019s no solace that you lost your home now, but it\u2019s that we\u2019re going to be able to do a lot of renewable things that allow you to not only rebuild, but afford to rebuild and rebuild better \u2014 to build back better than it was before.  And it includes billions of dollars for wildfire preparedness, resilience, and response to protect homes and public resources.<\/p>\n<p>And, folks, there\u2019s going to be a lot of good jobs we can create.  And there\u2019s going to \u2014 we\u2019re going to do \u2014 by acting boldly.<\/p>\n<p>You know, but the bottom line here is: We have to summon the courage to do something about it \u2014 to build back better as one nation. <\/p>\n<p>And I got a \u2014 recovery here in Boulder County is going to take a long time; I\u2019m not going to kid you.  But we\u2019re going to stay with you as long as it takes.  We\u2019re going to be here for every step of the way.  I promise.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s going to be better.  It\u2019s going to be better.<\/p>\n<p>So, we\u2019re going to get through this together.  It\u2019s easy for us to say.  Jill and I have not gone through what you\u2019ve gone through, but we have had lightning strike our home and almost lose our home.  And we only lost about 25 percent of it; we were able to rebuild. <\/p>\n<p>But, you know, the hard part is the thing \u2014 the memorabilia you lost, the special things that you had put away that you lost. <\/p>\n<p>But, you know, look at it this way: You got a lot more special dreams to make, and they\u2019re going to be in your new home. <\/p>\n<p>So, thank you, thank you, thank you. <\/p>\n<p>THE FIRST LADY:  Can I say something too?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Of course you can.  The boss is going to say something to you all.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE FIRST LADY:  I just wanted \u2014 after seeing the devastation that we just saw in the community we just visited, I too would like to thank the firefighters and the police and the EMTs and the rescue and recovery teams for doing such a great job for this community. <\/p>\n<p>And, you know, I can tell \u2014 as we\u2019ve met so many people as we walked through the neighborhood, as we talked to all of you \u2014 what a warm, strong community you are. <\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019d like to say, on a personal note \u2014 the governor told me how many of you lost your family pet.  And, you know, they\u2019re members of the family, too.  So, I want to just say how terribly sorry we are for the loss of your pets.  Because we\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re animal people.  So, you know, we know what a tough loss that is.<\/p>\n<p>So, we know you\u2019re strong.  You will rebuild.  And we\u2019re going to help.<\/p>\n<p>So, thanks for inviting us here.  And take care of one another.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And, by the way, I hope you\u2019ll invite us back. <\/p>\n<p>Thank you so very, very much.  And thank the team behind me from \u2014 from the group that\u2019s out here to \u2014 it\u2019s represented you so well. <\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the whole nation is thinking about you.  You have no idea how many prayers \u2014 how many people\u2019s prayers you\u2019re in; when I went to mass, how many people were praying for y\u2019all.  Because they saw it.  They saw it on television, and they could hardly imagine it happening. <\/p>\n<p>But every time I\u2019d walk out of my grandpop\u2019s house up in Scranton, he\u2019d say, \u201cJoey, keep the faith.\u201d  My grandmother would go, \u201cNo, Joey, spread it.\u201d  Let\u2019s spread the faith and get it done. <\/p>\n<p>Thank you all so much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Louisville, Colorado&#8230;Hey, folks. We\u2019re about to pick the basketball teams right now, so \u2014 (laughter). I get first pick. Hey, first of all, I want to thank the team behind me \u2014 the governor; lieutenant governor; the two senators, who\u2019ve been friends for a long time; as well as Joe Neguse, congressman; and your mayor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Chrome-Legacy-Window-1102022-83122-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134427"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134492,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134427\/revisions\/134492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}