Rep. Mike Thompson criticized Elon Musk for firing two smoke exposure researchers at UC Davis, undermining a decade of wildfire research crucial for California's wine industry. This abrupt decision halts Thompson's secured funding efforts, including $5 million in FY24 for mitigating wildfire smoke effects on grapegrowing. He contends that without this research, wine growers will struggle to manage losses from smoke exposure after fires. Thompson labels Musk's actions as a waste of government resources and harmful to agricultural recovery, urging the importance of collaborative research for future resilience against wildfires.
"When wildfires rip through our communities, smoke exposure can destroy millions of dollars of grapes. That's why I lead a bipartisan group of members every year to secure federal research funds at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service to fund smoke exposure research."
"In firing the only two smoke exposure researchers in our region, Elon Musk and his Republican enablers are not only throwing out a decade of research progress, they are making it harder for our agriculture producers to recover after wildfires strike."
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