Canada’s wildfire smoke is choking America — Congress must clear the air

Millions of Americans spent this week under air quality alerts, trapped indoors by thick smoke drifting across the border from Canada. This recurring problem disrupts daily life, cancels outdoor events, and presents real health risks to children and seniors across the American seaboard and Midwest. While natural events like droughts play a role, the current situation highlights a failure in forest management policies that allow dense underbrush to fuel massive infernos.

The federal response must change. Rather than burdening American states with environmental penalties for pollution that drifts in from another country, Congress needs to pass common-sense legislation that prioritizes proactive forest management. Two key bills, the FIRE Act and the FENCES Act, provide a path forward by allowing states to conduct effective mitigation efforts like prescribed burns without fear of federal sanction.

The FIRE Act streamlines the process for states to manage their forests, ensuring that mitigation is not buried under years of bureaucratic review. Meanwhile, the FENCES Act ensures that states are not held accountable under the Clean Air Act for foreign emissions that remain entirely beyond their control. Protecting American communities from these consequences is a matter of basic fairness and effective governance.

It is unacceptable for states to foot the bill for disasters they did not create. The Senate has the tools to address this, and further delay only ensures that communities will face the same unhealthy air in the future. We must stop punishing local economies for environmental events that cross borders. The focus should remain on prevention and supporting the states in their efforts to keep their landscapes healthy and their citizens safe.