{"id":21994,"date":"2026-06-06T22:22:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T22:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/06\/do-climate-disasters-fuel-anti-establishment-politicians-like-spencer-pratt-time-magazine\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T22:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T22:22:45","slug":"do-climate-disasters-fuel-anti-establishment-politicians-like-spencer-pratt-time-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/06\/do-climate-disasters-fuel-anti-establishment-politicians-like-spencer-pratt-time-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Climate Disasters Fuel Anti-Establishment Politicians Like Spencer Pratt? &#8211; Time Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Personalized Content<br \/>Follow this <!-- -->section<!-- --> to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.<br \/>WHY FOLLOW?<br \/>Update your preferences in<!-- --> <a class=\"text-brand-red\" href=\"\/account\/preferences\/\">Account Settings<\/a><br \/>Personalized Content<br \/>Follow this <!-- -->tag<!-- --> to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.<br \/>WHY FOLLOW?<br \/>Update your preferences in<!-- --> <a class=\"text-brand-red\" href=\"\/account\/preferences\/\">Account Settings<\/a><br \/>Personalized Content<br \/>Follow this <!-- -->author<!-- --> to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.<br \/>WHY FOLLOW?<br \/>Update your preferences in<!-- --> <a class=\"text-brand-red\" href=\"\/account\/preferences\/\">Account Settings<\/a><br \/>Senior Correspondent<br \/>Spencer Pratt is seen in watching the wildfire as it approaches his house on Jan. 7, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.<button class=\"inline-flex items-center justify-center whitespace-nowrap font-graphik transition-colors focus-visible:border-transparent disabled:pointer-events-none support:hover:cursor-pointer focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color gap-0 rounded-full support:hover:[&amp;_svg]:text-grey-1 absolute bottom-2 right-2 bg-white p-2\"><svg width=\"1rem\" height=\"1rem\" viewbox=\"0 0 12 16\" fill=\"currentColor\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><title><\/title><g id=\"close\" clip-path=\"url(#clip0_5319_307)\"><path d=\"m10 12 -8 -8\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"square\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"><\/path><path d=\"m10 4 -8 8\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"square\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"><\/path><\/g><defs><clippath id=\"clip0_5319_307\"><path width=\"12\" height=\"16\" fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M0 0h12v16H0z\"><\/path><\/clippath><\/defs><\/svg><\/button><br \/>Personalized Content<br \/>Follow this <!-- -->author<!-- --> to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.<br \/>WHY FOLLOW?<br \/>Update your preferences in<!-- --> <a class=\"text-brand-red\" href=\"\/account\/preferences\/\">Account Settings<\/a><br \/>Senior Correspondent<br \/>After I published my TIME <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7335166\/la-wildfire-recovery-climate-warning\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"undefined\">cover story<\/a> last year on the aftermath of the <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7205644\/los-angeles-california-fires-climate-change\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles wildfires<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/05\/21\/spencer-pratt-trump-los-angeles-mayor-endorsement\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">Spencer Pratt<\/a> unloaded on social media to attack my telling of the catastrophe and its aftermath. Substantively, he took issue with the mention of <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/section\/climate\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">climate change<\/a>. Rhetorically, he called me \u201clazy\u201d and my reporting \u201cimpotent.\u201d I got off easy compared to how he has slammed Los Angeles Mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7205815\/karen-bass-los-angeles-wildfires-mayor-controversy\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">Karen Bass<\/a> and California Governor <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7334157\/gavin-newsom-cop30-climate-change\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">Gavin Newsom<\/a>. For months, he tore into their fire response and lack of preparation.\u00a0<br \/>Votes are still being counted, but after this week\u2019s election Pratt, a former reality show star whose house burned down in the Palisades Fire, appears likely to be headed to face off against Bass in this year\u2019s general mayoral election. (Though the race is still too close to call as votes are being counted). Pratt has put his rage over the fire at the center of his <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/06\/04\/-these-strange-a-i-videos-boosted-spencer-pratt-s-campaign-and-may-be-the-future-of-politics-\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">campaign<\/a>\u2014and with good reason. Frustration remains over the disaster itself and the pace of the recovery.<br \/>Even if he makes it to the general election ballot in November, he\u2019s unlikely to defeat Bass. While the current mayor is unpopular, Pratt\u2019s pugilist politics and <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/04\/07\/Iran-war-Trump-MAGA-youth-vote-midterm\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"_self\">MAGA<\/a> associations are likely a bridge too far for most Angelenos. Nonetheless, Pratt offers an important demonstration of how climate-related disasters can foment populist fury and contribute to the rise of firebrand politicians. Those politicians offer a kind of climate-rage politics (though they would rebuff the label) that create challenges that are hard to model but will certainly compound existing climate risks as well as create bigger governance challenges.\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>Advertisement<br \/>There is an easy appeal to Pratt\u2019s fire message. It\u2019s been 18 months since the fires and rebuilding efforts remain slow and halting. In one campaign ad, he and his family camp out at the lot where their home once lived; he walks down Bass\u2019s pristine street to draw a contrast.\u00a0<br \/>Pratt\u2019s demand, among other things, is accountability from elected officials and reform in insurance and emergency management, all good things on the surface at least. But even if he is right in diagnosing some parts of the problem, it\u2019s unclear how he would be able to fix it. The whole underpinning of his campaign is a skepticism of established political elites and their expertise. And yet that expertise is essential in preparing for and responding to climate-related disasters. (I wasn\u2019t able to reach Pratt for comment on this story).\u00a0<br \/>For the academics who study the aftermath of disasters, Pratt\u2019s rise isn\u2019t exactly surprising. Research has long shown that poorly managed disasters foment distrust in institutions and create fertile ground for anti-establishment politicians.\u00a0<br \/>Advertisement<br \/>A 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/cepr.org\/voxeu\/columns\/electoral-earthquakes-local-shocks-and-authoritarian-voting\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"undefined\">analysis<\/a> from researchers in Italy, for example, shows how poor disaster response to an earthquake created an authoritarian hotbed. A different <a href=\"https:\/\/publications.iadb.org\/en\/disaster-and-political-trust-natural-experiment-2017-mexico-city-earthquake\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"undefined\">study<\/a> from the Inter-American Development Bank charted how an earthquake in Mexico led to political distrust and how competent disaster response can help mitigate it. And <a href=\"https:\/\/grist.org\/extreme-weather\/boots-on-the-ground-fema-oath-keepers-natural-disaster\/\" title=\"undefined\" target=\"undefined\">reporting<\/a> has shown how far-right groups in the U.S. use the aftermath of disasters as recruiting grounds. This list could go on.\u00a0<br \/>While this is widely accepted in the academic literature, the implications of this reality remain outside the scope of climate modeling and tabletop exercises. But the potential costs are very real. Political dysfunction risks slowing down rebuilding efforts as critical government functions stall. And it can further disrupt the insurance market as insurers question the resilience of localities. Even beyond disaster response, anti-establishment elected officials can hamstring agencies necessary for business operations.\u00a0<br \/>Advertisement<br \/>This phenomenon is also ignored by many in the climate community who insist that growing extreme weather events will drive political change to address the root cause of the issue. Pratt is at least one indicator that that\u2019s not universally the case.\u00a0<br \/>The irony of Pratt\u2019s critique of my story, I think, is that if he had taken the time to sit with it he might have embraced my criticism of the disaster response and understood that the climate adaptation he dismisses is exactly the kind of work that future mayors need to embrace so this doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 <!-- -->2026<!-- --> TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our<!-- --> <a class=\"underline focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color\" href=\"https:\/\/legal.time.com\/terms-of-service\">Terms of Service<\/a>,<!-- --> <a class=\"underline focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color\" href=\"https:\/\/legal.time.com\/us-privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy (Your Privacy Rights)<\/a> <!-- -->and<!-- --> <button type=\"button\" class=\"font-graphik underline focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color\">Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information<\/button>.<br \/>TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.<br \/>This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google<!-- --> <a class=\"underline focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\">Privacy Policy<\/a> <!-- -->and<!-- --> <a class=\"underline focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-black-coffee focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:shadow-focus-color\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\">Terms of Service<\/a> <!-- -->apply.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMijwFBVV95cUxPTFg1cFNtRW5TaVpJWkE4SmhyWmtZRHVRLWdTOGZ3aDlSRXFobkVDYkw0ZGgxUE9DZFNGRHMxRXlJUXBsVzdLLUlUN1hDXzNvcWw0ZVNvVGUtcHVWYW5wVWNWMVlqV1BLU0lwM0piNnRkVXNFeVFqXy04V01ITFJNUG1BeTBTUTVtX2VRenZETQ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personalized ContentFollow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.WHY FOLLOW?Update your preferences in Account SettingsPersonalized ContentFollow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.WHY FOLLOW?Update your preferences in Account SettingsPersonalized ContentFollow this author to personalize your feed and get instant alerts.WHY FOLLOW?Update your preferences in Account SettingsSenior CorrespondentSpencer Pratt is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}