President Joe Biden took some time on Wednesday to make an announcement revealing a batch of new measures the federal government is going to be taking to help address the issue of Western wildfires, however, he made a series of gaffes while trying to pronounce the “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration” right in the middle of his talk.
This will certainly not help to ease rumors that Biden is suffering from cognitive decline, will it?
“We are harnessing new tools and technologies to better identify and respond before new fires grow into large, uncontrolled conflagration,” Biden went on to say, getting halfway through his remarks before staggering over the “O” in NOAA. “So, for example, the National Ocean, uh, the National Oceano, Oceanographic, Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, has satellite technology that is able to see from space when new fires start while they’re still small, even as small as the size of your dining room table.”
The actions Biden detailed are aimed at combating wildfires with the same ferocity and resources that the government spends on hurricane preparedness.
Specifically, Biden announced that, in an effort to maintain sufficient firefighter staffing levels, the federal government would temporarily boost firefighter salaries and work with Congress to legislate a permanent pay increase so that no firefighter makes less than $15 per hour.
Biden further pledged to supplement state wildfire efforts with technology from NOAA and the Department of Homeland Security to help detect wildfires even earlier in their life cycles.
President Biden then awarded a large $37 million grant to Sonoma County, California to help them fight against wildfires before going on to try and push folks to support his new infrastructure proposal, which if passed, will provide an additional $50 billion to “build resistance to extreme weather events,” which includes wildfires.
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