Leave it to Andy Caldwell to play skunk at the garden party.
Last Tuesday morning, as county supervisors were getting an update on the Thomas Fire, California’s latest and soon-to-be-largest megafire, the mood was somber and grim. Anyone wearing a firefighter’s uniform was drenched in gratitude. The absence of finger-pointing was total.
Then Caldwell, conservative watchdog in chief for the Coalition of Labor Agriculture & Business (COLAB), took to the podium. “This is on you,” he blasted, blaming the supervisors and environmental activists for the damage wrought by the Thomas Fire. “These are not just wind-driven fires — they are policy-driven fires.”