Jake, Spike debate over former WA Gov. Jay Inslee linking wildfire surge to climate change

Due to being flanked by fires in Oregon and Canada, western Washington residents can expect hazy skies and drifting wildfire smoke in the air over the next few days — right when a brief heat wave is expected to hit the region.

Former Governor Jay Inslee, who has long linked the surge in wildfires and smoke in the Pacific Northwest to climate change, posted on X to further highlight the correlation.

“Millions of Americans are now breathing the consequences of the climate change that is fundamentally changing North American forests,” Inslee wrote on X while sharing a New York Times article.

Todd Myers, the vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center, refuted Inslee’s statement.

“Canadian forest fires, as experienced by Mark Twain in 1895: ‘When Twain traveled to Petoskey, Michigan, their train plowed through thick smoke on all sides, blown downwind by forest fires,’ and ‘Atmospheric conditions didn’t help matters in British Columbia. Although Vancouver was encircled by beautiful scenery’ … ‘The smoke is so dense … that you can’t see a cathedral at 800 yards,'” Myers posted in response to Inslee’s X post.

Jake, Spike debate over the online sparring

“So what’s that got to do with Jay Inslee’s comment about climate change affecting wildfires?” KIRO host Spike O’Neill asked. “Is he trying to say because there was smoke in 1895, that Jay Inslee doesn’t have a point?”

“Yes, I believe that’s what he’s saying,” KIRO host Jake Skorheim responded.

“Well, that’s an asinine point of view,” Spike said. “He’s a friend of the show and all, but that’s a ridiculous thing. That’s a ridiculous idea.”

“Why is that ridiculous?” Jake asked.

“Eight of the last eight worst seasons of wildfires ever have been in the last 10 years,” Spike answered.

Between 1984 and 2024, there have been over 16,000 large wildfires, according to USA Today, amounting to 179 million burned acres. But the amount of land burned is not equally distributed over the years as, by the early 2020s, the average annual acres burned had nearly tripled compared to the 1990s.

“You’ve got to admit that in the last 10 years, there’s been excessive droughts, there’s been excessive wildfires, there’s been horrific air quality in the last 10 years,” Spike said to Jake.

“No. 1, I don’t got to admit nothing,” Jake replied.

“OK, if you’re comfortable denying that, by all means, enjoy your life,” Spike said. “Go ahead.”

“Where are these fires happening?” Jake asked.

“In North America,” Spike said. “Mostly Canada, the Western United States, California, California coast, Washington state.”

“Where they stopped mitigating for fires?” Jake asked. “A big part of that was California stopped mitigating for fires the same way. Like the same thing that [Canadian Prime Minister Mark] Carney’s talking about doing, they’re not doing that in California.”

“Resource management is pretty well established,” Spike rebutted. “The proper procedures for resource management with regard to forest fires.”

“I would argue probably that all the folks whose houses just burned down a year and a half ago in Pacific Palisades would say that wasn’t mitigated properly and wasn’t managed properly,” Jake said.

“They could probably also say that the Trump administration has slashed resources for forest firefighting,” Spike said. “For managing wildfire fighting. Kind of like they’ve cut all the people who inspect food for the CDC.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3