California Dems no longer blaming climate change for fires, discover there's more money in blaming PG&E

Remember how California Dems mocked President Trump for not saying climate change was to blame for California’s wildfires?

Last 2 years, climate experts, Govs Brown & Newsom, and media blamed climate change for extreme fire risk & acreage burned.

Other folks (like Trump) were mocked for saying forest management & human encroachment & ignition were just as much to blame.

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) October 25, 2019

We do:

Here's Jerry Brown "hitting back at Trump" for not buying the climate change "new normal" line. https://t.co/08CS6qHN7E

PG&E echoed Brown: "Facing $17B in Fire Damages, PG&E CEO Blames Climate Change"https://t.co/ZKijljFPdk

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) October 25, 2019

Anyway, California Dems are changing their tune now that PG&E, the Northern California utility that’s being blamed for many of the wildfires, is saying those fires are not their fault because of climate change. You see, these Dems are finding it’s much more lucrative to go after PG&E than to keep blaming the weather:

Well, now we've come full circle.

Climate experts and media are now saying climate change is not solely to blame. (It never was — even though that's all you heard from them)https://t.co/lcM2NaVFcq

Time for journalists to "follow the money" on this climate wildfire blame. pic.twitter.com/IX9cQG9AxL

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) October 25, 2019

And we’re not being sarcastic here, but Vox’s David Roberts has a very good thread on the fires and what can and cannot be done to stop them.

First up, even if PG&E does everything perfectly and uses “best practices,” that’s still not good enough and there will be blackouts (PSPSs):

4. On all this basic grid hardening & fire safety stuff, PG&E is way, way behind (thanks to criminal mismanagement). It'll take a decade just to catch up w/ more prepared utilities like SDG&E. And even w/ best practices, there is NO chance that this stuff can eliminate PSPSs.

— David Roberts (@drvox) October 24, 2019

5. This is important to emphasize, since I see lots of folks saying these PSPSs wouldn't be happening if PG&E hadn't diverted maintenance $$ to shareholders. Even if ALL that $$ had gone to grid hardening, there is no chance PSPSs could've been completely avoided. Just reduced.

— David Roberts (@drvox) October 24, 2019

Roberts went on to point out that Californians needs to stop building in areas that are at high risk for fires:

7. Second solution: land use & building codes! California's daft policies make it impossible build anything in cities, so people get spun out into suburbs, exurbs, & eventually to the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where fire risk is high. (See: the housing crisis.)

— David Roberts (@drvox) October 24, 2019

8. If you send more & more people & electricity infrastructure out into the woods, you're going to get more fires & blackouts. Above all, the state needs to BUILD MORE HOUSING IN ITS CITIES. Infill, infill, infill. "NIMBYS to blame for wildfire crisis" is the headline.

— David Roberts (@drvox) October 24, 2019

And those that do live in high-risk areas need to pay more, not less for their infrastructure:

9. The state also needs to stop allowing people who want to live in the WUI to socialize the costs. Infrastructure *ought* to cost more out there. Insurance *ought* to cost more. It's not a problem if prices rise & growth in these areas is slowed. That's the goal.

— David Roberts (@drvox) October 24, 2019

10. Finally, CA's endlessly petulant, entitled homeowners are going to have to get over themselves & realize they might have to lose some parking to make room for ?. They might have to lose their gardenias to make their lots more fire-resistant. They might have to PAY MORE …

— David Roberts (@drvox) October 24, 2019

Millions of residents will see their power cut this weekend as well as major winds are forecast for the area:

Largest @PGE4Me #PSPS blackout in history proposed for this weekend: Approximately 850,000 customers notified (estimated 2.6 million people) that their power could be cut.

— Randol White (@RandolWhite) October 25, 2019

These blackouts could last until Monday:

BREAKING: PG&E says 850,000 customers in 36 counties across Northern California may lose power starting at 6 p.m. Saturday. The shutoffs have the potential to last until midday Monday. @PGE4Me #PSPS #pgeshutdown https://t.co/u3PfmSeYAE

— Mercury News (@mercnews) October 25, 2019