While the entire west coast of the United States is in the grip of deadly violent fires, Donald Trump has once again refuted the idea that the phenomenon was the result of global warming.
A position that once again divides Americans less than 50 days before the presidential election, as evidenced by our report in Oregon.
REPORTAGE
"It will eventually cool down": President Donald Trump on Monday swept aside concerns about global warming during a visit to California, plagued like the entire west coast of the United States by deadly fires of a historic scale, exacerbated by chronic drought.
The dozens of blazes that have devastated the coast for days have already killed at least 35 people since the start of the summer, including 27 this week alone in the three states of Washington, California and Oregon.
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It is in the latter that we find Eric the carpenter and John the electrician.
The two retirees are friends, they live a few kilometers from each other on the banks of the Santiam River.
When the flames erupted, they both chose to stay to defend their home.
"My porch caught fire," says Eric.
"I managed to extinguish it with 20 liters of water".
"I don't think science really knows"
His house is still standing, but the whole neighborhood has been reduced to ashes.
So Eric took refuge with John, whose house was spared, with his large "TRUMP" flag planted on his roof.
John says he just saw Donald Trump on TV say we need better forest management and he totally agrees with the president.
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"His answer to all this shit is to rake the forests? But hey ...", Eric gets angry, talking about climate change, about our impact on the environment.
John insists: "To prevent it from burning, it is better to take care of the forests rather than saying: 'no more oil, no more planes, no more farting cows ... and all that'".
The two friends laughed, enveloped in the haze of smoke.
Bearded Eric and Mustached John agree at least on one point: their region has never known such devastating fires.
A new divisive subject in the middle of the presidential campaign
"The observed evidence speaks for itself: climate change is real and it is worsening" fires, insisted Gavin Newsom, Democratic Governor of California, in response to Donald Trump.
"I don't think science really knows," added the Republican candidate, who regularly makes climate-skeptical comments.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden at the same time lashed out against his rival, blaming him for denying the reality of climate change.
"If we give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, how could anyone be surprised that America is set on fire even more?"
said the former vice president from the state of Delaware where he lives.
A new divisive subject in the middle of the campaign for the presidential elections scheduled for November 3.