SUBJECT: Traci Park’s Climate Denial Demands a Council Response
TO: councilmember.hernandez@lacity.org, councilmember.lee@lacity.org, councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org, councilmember.jurado@lacity.org, Councilmember.McOsker@lacity.org, councilmember.nazarian@lacity.org, councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org, contactCD4@lacity.org, councilmember.yaroslavsky@lacity.org, councilmember.padilla@lacity.org, councilmember.rodriguez@lacity.org, councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org, councilmember.price@lacity.org, cd10@lacity.org
CC: adrian.grigorian@lacity.org, Alexis.wesson@lacity.org, Ana.barranco@lacity.org
CC: councilmember.park@lacity.org, jacob.burman@lacity.org, karen.bass@lacity.org, ThirdDistrict@bos.lacounty.gov, Senator.Allen@senate.CA.gov
Dear Members of the Los Angeles City Council,
I am writing as a deeply concerned Angeleno who did not expect that Los Angeles would need to debate whether climate change played a role in the most destructive fire in our city’s history.
At a rally in Pacific Palisades marking one year since the Palisades Fire, Councilmember Traci Park, the representative of the community most directly impacted, publicly denied any role of climate change. Her words were unequivocal: “It wasn’t climate change, and don’t let anybody try to tell you otherwise.”
This denial did not occur in a vacuum. It was delivered to residents still grappling with loss, fear, and uncertainty about the future. At a moment when honesty and leadership were needed, Park chose rhetoric that contradicts established climate science. She also repeated claims about firefighters being left without water and resorting to using dirt to fight flames, echoing widely discredited talking points that distract from the real issue: the climate conditions that made this fire so destructive.
Climate denialism from a sitting councilmember is dangerous. Wildfires in Los Angeles are intensified by hotter temperatures, prolonged drought, and extreme wind conditions. Denying that reality undermines preparedness, erodes public trust, and puts lives at risk. This concern is heightened by Councilmember Park’s financial ties to the fossil fuel industry, including $89,000 in campaign contributions from Chevron.
I urge the City Council to take a clear and public stand by affirming that climate change worsened the Palisades Fire and continues to increase wildfire risk across Los Angeles. The public deserves clarity. Silence in the face of climate denial, especially from the representative of a community so profoundly harmed, is not acceptable.
Please act.
