From Politico: California thought it could delay climate disaster. Now millions of acres are burning. Some excerpts follow:

California tried harder than any state to fight climate change. Two governors imposed a groundbreaking emissions cap-and-trade system while state regulators forced American automakers to build more efficient cars.

None of those policies kept California from becoming the poster child for what climate change really looks like.

Ravaged by deadly fires, drought, dry lightning and heat waves that make the ground sizzle and lamps dim, the nation’s most populous state now seems incapable of protecting itself from a global catastrophe. The urgency has forced California to consider diverting more time and resources away from reducing its carbon footprint to thwarting the immediate impacts of climate change.