National TV news coverage of devastating western U.S. and Canadian wildfires rarely connected them to climate change

Media Matters / Andrea Austria

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Right-wing media personalities seize on arson charge to falsely deny the role of climate change in Palisades Fire

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Allison Fisher

Research contributions from Ilana Berger

Published

Right-wing media personalities are using the arrest of a man charged with igniting the Palisades fire in Los Angeles — a blaze that killed a dozen people and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures in January — to deny climate change. 

For example, Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed that the finding that arson started the Palisades Fire “put the final nail in the climate change coffin.” 

As the Palisades fire and the nearby Eaton fire were raging in LA, many right-wing media figures attacked those who were connecting the intensity of the blaze to climate change. The arson charge is now serving as a baffling “gotcha” moment for right-wing media figures who are misrepresenting the scientific finding that climate change contributes to, not causes, wildfires. 

By attacking a claim no one is making these figures advance their campaign to undermine climate science and decouple the impacts of increasingly destructive extreme weather events from our warming planet.

  • Climate change didn’t start the LA fires; it created conditions that intensified them

    • While the fires were burning, UCLA climate scientist and Southern California climate expert Daniel Swain explained on MSNBC that “the level of vegetation and landscape scale dryness” was at “highly anomalous, even record-breaking levels.” Swain continued: “This year, there has been virtually no rainfall at all in the LA region, even as we head towards mid-January. And that is extremely unusual.” On top of that, “the extreme heat waves that we saw in the same region this past autumn” set the stage for intense winds to cause extensive damage. [MSNBC, Chris Jansing Reports, 1/8/25]

    • A 2023 attribution study found that “nearly all of the observed increase in” burned area in California over the past 50 years is “attributable” to human-caused climate change. Attribution studies “calculate whether, and by how much, climate change affected the intensity, frequency or impact of extremes,” according to Carbon Brief, which covers climate science. [Carbon Brief, 11/18/24; The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 6/12/23]

    • As Yale Climate Connections reported, the Palisades and Eaton fires were “intensified by severe drought and driven by winds gusting up to 100 mph (161 km/hr) from a severe Santa Ana wind event.” The report explained that “the main way that climate change worsens wildfires is by drying out vegetation. Prolonged heat turns forests and grasslands into tinder, fueling faster, more intense burns.” And in the case of the LA fires, “vegetation growth in early 2024 was enhanced by a wetter-than-average winter in Southern California. But during the summer of 2024, California experienced its hottest summer on record. This record heat, combined with near-record dryness, dried out the plentiful vegetation that grew in response to the wet winter.” [Yale Climate Connections, 1/9/25]

    • An attribution study of the LA fires found that climate change made them 35% more likely. As reported by NBC, “The hot, dry and windy conditions that preceded the fires were about 35% more likely because of human-caused global warming, according to a new report from the World Weather Attribution group, which analyzes the influence of global warming on extreme events. … In the case of the recent California fires, the report's authors found that although climate change played a role, it was not the sole factor.” [NBC, 1/28/25]

  • Right-wing media claimed arrest of alleged arsonist disproved link between climate change and the LA fires

    • Newsmax host Greg Kelly played a montage of reporting connecting climate change to the LA wildfires to suggest that the alleged arson charge negates that point.  Above the chyron “Many blamed L.A. fires on ‘climate change’” Kelly noted, “Yeah, well, it turned out that the guy who started that great big Palisades fire was some nut with a lighter, some liberal nut.” [Newsmax, Greg Kelly Reports, 10/8/25]

    • Newsmax host Carl Higbie undermined his argument that climate change didn’t cause the Palisades Fire by pointing out that National Geographic reported that “the fires were 35% more likely because of climate change.” Higbie went on to say, “Gavin Newsom sold us the same bill of goods about extremes. … It's not climate change. It's: One, you guys not maintaining your forest. And two, some allegedly, at this point, deranged arsonist who then called 911 to stroke his own ego to report himself.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontlines, 10/8/25]

    • Fox News host Jesse Watters similarly showed a montage of people correctly discussing climate as a contributing factor in intensifying fires before he concluded that “it wasn't global warming; it was an arsonist. And not just any arsonist — a Biden donor.” “This year, Los Angeles burned to the ground,” he said. “A dozen killed, billions in damage. The leadership was too clueless to tame the blaze. … No one took responsibility. They just kept saying, oh, it's not our fault, it's climate change. … We just found out what really sparked the fire. … It wasn't global warming; it was an arsonist. And not just any arsonist — a Biden donor.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 10/8/25]

    • Fox News host Laura Ingraham mocked Democrats for making the link between climate change and the fires, saying, “Climate change caused the devastating fires that ravaged LA, said the Democrats.” She continued, “Well, today, a 29-year-old Uber driver has been arrested in connection to starting those fires.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 10/8/25]

    • Right-wing influencer Robby Starbuck took aim at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, writing on X, “Didn’t you blame the fire on climate change? Stop lying.” [Twitter/X, 10/9/25]

    • Right-wing news site The Western Journal wrote, “Democrats and their left-wing media lapdogs beclowned themselves after their manufactured outrage claiming ‘climate change’ had caused the Pacific Palisades fire earlier this year turned out to be a big, fat lie.” [The Western Journal, 10/9/25; The New York Times, 8/22/19] 

    • After news of the arrest came out, former MTV star Spencer Pratt, who has attracted right-wing fans for railing against Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, attacked the New York Times for reporting earlier this month that he “dismisses climate change as a major factor in the fires and instead seems to be looking for someone to blame.” Pratt wrote, “What was the @nytimes saying about me not believing ‘climate change’ was cause of the palisades fire?” [Twitter/X, 10/9/25; The New York Times, 10/1/25]

    • Bonchie, a writer for the right-wing site Red State, said on X that “we got months of ‘climate change’ crap from the left, and yet again the fire turned out to be set by a human.” “And they’ll do the same thing the next time because climate change is a religion, not an observation of evidence,” he also wrote. [Twitter/X, 10/8/25; Red State, accessed 10/9/25]

    • CJ Pearson, former co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council, wrote on X: “BREAKING: The DOJ just announced the arrest of an arsonist responsible for the Palisades fire. Remember when the left assured us for months that climate change was to blame?” [Twitter/X, 10/8/25]

    • Bongino Inc., the media company founded by former right-wing pundit and current FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, posted: “BREAKING: Police have arrested the ‘climate change’ responsible for the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. His name is Jonathan Rinderknecht.” [Facebook, 10/8/25]

    • Blaze Media founder Glenn Beck wrote on Facebook, “Palisades Fire ‘climate change’ narrative crumbles after arson arrest.” [Facebook, 10/8/25] 

    • Climate change denier Steve Milloy complained on X that “WaPo still tags the story as ‘Climate.’” [Twitter/X, 10/8/25, AAP Factcheck, 1/23/23]

    • Right-wing podcaster Eric Matheny wrote on X: “Weren’t we told that the Palisades fire was the result of climate change? No. It was an arsonist.” [Twitter/X, 10/8/25]