This is simply embarrassing.
For the third straight Autumn in a row, California is experiencing severe wildfire events up here in NorCal and simultaneously down south in Los Angeles county. Thankfully, the destruction is not nearly as catastrophic as last year’s fires in Paradise and Malibu, but three consecutive years of this is not a good look for the State’s proactiveness towards mitigating such disasters.
Indeed, for what would be the 7th largest economy on this planet on its own, with the highest State income tax in the country, and the crowning jewel that is Silicon Valley, it is a spectacular shame on California that all of this is happening yet again this year. If ever there’s a State with the resources to combat and prevent wildfires, it would be California (on paper, at least). Unfortunately, in reality there remains the same incompetence, and it seems the people in charge are unwilling to lift a finger to solve the underlying issues that are causing these wildfires.
Oh, and new for this year: rolling blackouts! PG&E - the beleaguered utility company - in its infinite wisdom have deemed shutting down power to the grid in at-risk areas during the fire season ought to stop these massive fires from happening. Well, the outages have and are occurring, and yet much Sonoma county is currently burning, so the strategy’s efficacy is suspect. What’s even more laughable is that PG&E said these power shutdowns are the new normal to stop wildfires; an absurd position for an electric company to be unable to deliver electricity.
The obvious solution is to spend the massive amount of money necessary to upgrade the aging electric infrastructure. If falling power-lines are the culprit of these fires, then let’s start putting the grid beneath terra firma. For sure that’ll be a slow process, so in the meantime we should clear away the dry brushes and plants surrounding power poles and towers that are at high potential of igniting. We can’t change the weather, but we can make certain the power grid is able to withstand the many dry and windy season undoubtedly to come after this particular one.
These rolling blackouts cannot be the answer, because there’s vulnerable people who are dependent on electricity for their survival.
I’m not against having a private, for-profit company like PG&E (though the company is publicly-held) as the sole utility provider, but because electricity is one of the important public goods, there has to be tremendously strict oversight by the State government. Constant improvements to the grid must be made, and if PG&E isn’t up for that, then it’s time for California PUC to takeover operations. Electricity is critical to societal functions, and we can’t leave it to the negligence of a company that seems to care more for shareholder’s profit than ensuring a secure power infrastructure that won’t burn down homes every time Fall season comes around.
Selling this lovely set of Grado sr80e headphones because I’ve scarcely used it. AirPods have completely taken over my music listening procedure.