Since my house narrowly avoided the #pgeshutdown, I figured I'll use my desktop to give a rundown of the whole deal with not just PG&E, but California's fire problem.
The home of the Sierra Club and the first national park has a unique history of environmental destruction
The home of the Sierra Club and the first national park has a unique history of environmental destruction
First of all, it's not just fires. In San Bruno, the original home of YouTube, a PG&E gas pipe exploded in 2010. It was big enough to make a small earthquake
8 people were killed, and dozens injured, leaving a scene you'd expect to see in a Fallout title
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bruno…
8 people were killed, and dozens injured, leaving a scene you'd expect to see in a Fallout title
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bruno…
This was completely preventable. The pipe needed replacing because it was a patchwork of varying thicknesses with a weld running the length. It was the load-bearing drywall of welding jobs.
PG&E was indicted with lying to the Nat'l Transportation Safety Board, and much more
PG&E was indicted with lying to the Nat'l Transportation Safety Board, and much more
But hey, maybe they were strapped for staff and couldn't get around to all the miles of pipeline in time! Well, there was this $100 million they COULD have spent on anti-explosion work, but it went to bonuses and dividends instead. sfgate.com/bayarea/articl…
By the way, Google, Facebook, and Amazon have never paid a single dividend. It's completely optional.
Now 2 years ago yesterday, 13 different fires happened at once, north of the Golden Gate bridge. The power stations that PG&E threw in the "who cares it's probably fine" pile caused 12 of them.
The smoke was palpable all the way to Mountain View and San Jose. My asthma, man
The smoke was palpable all the way to Mountain View and San Jose. My asthma, man
In 2017 executive bonuses topped $30 million. For what? It's hard to imagine what a company with a guaranteed market needs to incentivize at this scale. The public interest is apparently not factored in.
Meanwhile, thousands of people lost everything. I'm looking around at my books, my clothes, my garden, my pantry, my medications, awards...
It's the machine that takes years of your life away
It's the machine that takes years of your life away
Then last year was the Camp Fire, northwest of Tahoe. 85 people died. This thread contains testimony from one of the residents during Bernie Sanders' visit.
That's what happens when you simply cannot sacrifice your corrupt board payment funds to trim back foliage that's rubbing on your damaged power lines. The capitalists in question are identified on this site, which also supplied the background above letsownpge.org/disaster-magna…
The local DSA chapters and other orgs, when they're not busy with mutual aid, are pushing to make this a publicly managed institution with real accountability. I won't get into the details but you can peep them here: letsownpge.org/public-worker-…
But PG&E is not some exception to corrupt private power companies, so why don't we hear about wire fires in Texas or Pennsylvania? California has several other factors that come into play here.
I will be updating this thread periodically to count the ways.
I will be updating this thread periodically to count the ways.
First of all, this grid has two (2) heavily forested mountain ranges to get across. As seen with the Camp Fire, a degraded sparky cable can start something off, if it's close enough to catch.
As a side note, the occasional forest fire is part of a healthy ecosystem. The ashes provide nutrients to potentially new plants. Potassium is a Latinization of "pot ash."
The indigenous Amah Mutsun knew this, and created controlled burns to manage the forests long ago
The indigenous Amah Mutsun knew this, and created controlled burns to manage the forests long ago
These fires wouldn't be as devastating in a different climate. For example, California's climate before it, and I cannot emphasize this enough, changed.
The flammability of the next acre of plants mostly decides if a fire keeps growing. That flammability, in turn, is decided by water reserves. The odd year of drought is just part of life, but our last one was 7 years in a row. An 18-year-old has spent 2/3 of their life in drought
Then there's wind. Slivers of bark will rise as embers, and be carried a mile away, seeding a new spot for the fire.
In fact, there are a lot of destroyed houses surrounded by surviving trees because the roofs are flammable enough to catch the embers. readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wi…
In fact, there are a lot of destroyed houses surrounded by surviving trees because the roofs are flammable enough to catch the embers. readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wi…
I'm no expert, but if climate change is making heavier hurricanes then it's probably making more circulation and wind in general.
P.S. There's this amazing brewery that narrowly escaped a SoCal fire in 2016 flyingembers.com/our-story/
P.S. There's this amazing brewery that narrowly escaped a SoCal fire in 2016 flyingembers.com/our-story/
Anyway, our role in drought is no mystery, and it's not the work of long showers or unsolicited drinks at restaurants. It's irrigation. This is a touchy subject so first of all I support the right of farmers to exist. But a certain set of practices comprise our state's shame.
When I think of a farmer, I think of someone who lives where they work and grows food to sell to their community. They may need to hire help, but they farm. They own it like a project, not a portfolio. Perhaps you've guessed that some people deviate from this model.
Enter Stewart Resnick. This is a man who sees produce and thinks "product," nothing different from the alarm systems that got him his first fortune. I did another thread about him a while back after reading Mark Arax's incredible piece on him.
To summarize, from his armchair in Beverly Hills he leveled 65,000 acres for non-organic pistachios and almonds, which are the thirstiest crops. What's more, his pistachios suck. China doesn't want them because they're allowed to buy Persian pistachios. USA won't let me buy them.
He's so mad about the existence of those delectable forbidden pearls, not even AIPAC is bloodthirsty enough for him. mintpressnews.com/how-the-resnic…
Anyway this guy is buying water from farmers in times of desperation, and he's even pulling an "I drink your milkshake" on people's wells. They have the rights but it can be hard to prove. He built a secret pipeline too.
