John Vaillant on How Fossil Fuel Extraction Intensifies Wildfire

KQED's Forum

John Vaillant’s book “Fire Weather” chronicles a devastating wildfire that struck Fort McMurray, Alberta in May 2016. It forced more than 85,000 people to flee their homes, inflicted billions of dollars in damage to the Canadian oil industry and continues to serve as a warning in our increasingly flammable world. Vaillant lays out the linked histories of North America’s fossil fuel industry and its rapidly changing climate – with sidebars that explain the science behind petroleum products, recap two centuries of industrial development and explore the economic and environmental tensions in modern oil boom towns. We’ll speak with Vaillant about the lessons that fire-prone regions, including California, can learn from the devastation of Fort McMurray. And we’ll hear from you: Has your sense of fire awareness changed over time? How so?

Guests:

John Vaillant, journalist; author, "Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World," which was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist. His other books include "The Tiger" and "The Golden Spruce."