Lawmakers want this new betting trend shut down before it’s too late

As wildfires rip through the Pacific Northwest, a group of lawmakers is calling on federal regulators to intervene to stop some very grim gambling activity that poses dangers of its own. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley led a group of lawmakers this week in asking for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (which regulates U.S. derivatives markets) to crack down on wildfire-related betting by putting “common-sense guardrails” in place. In Oregon, Portland topped global charts for dangerous air…