by Jack
The Wall Street Journal had a great op-ed piece that was noted in comments 10/28/19 by reader RHT. Among the more salient points of the article was this quote, by the governor of California, “It’s about dog-eat-dog capitalism meeting climate change. It’s about corporate greed meeting climate change. It’s about decades of mismanagement,” Mr. Newsom declared.
The governor just told a whopper of a half lie. Yes, it’s about mismanagement alright, but most of that comes straight from the progressives ruining the State of California and their eco-warrior mentality.
The State of CA was duly warned many times by PG&E and others about the possibility of uncontrollable wild fires. This started nearly three decades ago when the State first forced PG&E to stop spraying pre-emergence under their transmission lines and electrical towers to control growth.
The State’s concern then and now was laser focused on the chemicals that [might] in some small way impact local habitat. So, the state was willing to completely stop the spraying and let combustible materiel accumulate to dangerous levels on the forest floor and around transmission lines. Clearly, this was a setup for disaster and now we have a huge, dangerous mess, thanks to liberals in State government who blocked every attempt at fire prevention on wildlands.
The state PUC regulates everything PG&E does and they have the authority to fine PG&E up to $50,000 a day for safety violations. However, in the last 20 years they have issued zero, zip, nada citations for safety violations. THIS IS THEIR FREAKING JOB! Instead the PUC continually sided with the environmentalists and against PG&E to halt any form herbicide spraying. They have also forced PG&E into spending money for so-called green projects rather than basic maintenance of power lines. When you lift the lid off this one and look deep inside you will find the State of California the real culprit here.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Noah Berger/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9771682e)
A car passes through flames on Highway 299 as the Carr Fire burns through Shasta, Calif., . Fueled by high temperatures, wind and low humidity, the blaze destroyed multiple homes and at least one historic building
California Wildfires, Shasta, USA – 26 Jul 2018
This is not about corporate greed as Gov. Newsome claims, it is about decades of stupid government interference and eco-incompetence and the democrats own it…100%. This latter part is not what the governor wants you to know. But, it’s rather obvious given the state of wild fires right now. PG&E has the evidence to back up what I’m saying and I hope they come forward. I wish we could all sue the state for its gross government failures to protect the citizens from these horrific wild fires.
Did you know your utility rate in CA is twice that of Oregon and Washington and look at the forested land they have! How is that possible?
Something is seriously wrong in CA and the progressives are behind it…again.
And now this from the WSJ …” State law mandates that utilities obtain 33% of electric generation from renewables such as wind and solar by 2020 and 60% by 2030. Utilities must spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to reduce the cost of green energy for low-income households. PG&E has prioritized political obeisance over safety.” That’s because they are partly controlled by the idiots in government!” See what I mean…CA is stuck on stupid.
Heh. Lewis Black mixes viewer comments with his own about PG&E. Brutal. Some profanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xppZmkukP-w
Well, at least Geisha Williams, PG&E’s ex-CEO, got millions when she walked out the door in January.
What kind of company hires someone named Geisha? And why the Hell did she get millions to leave instead of a ticket to the hoosegow?
It is because corruption is systemic in this society. Our country is run by criminals.
And here’s more on the incredibly corrupt Bidens.
How can the Souzaphone sugar coat this?
Among the corruption being investigated, Burisma Holdings was paying Rosemont Seneca, (owned by Vice-President Biden’s son, Hunter), $166,000 per month to ‘consult.’ His partners were Secretary of State, John Kerry’s step-son, and FBI murderer/Boston Gang Boss, Whitey Bulger’s nephew. Hmm. Nothing to see here.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/fbi-bulger/
This is your FBI, the organization that Bob Mueller was – and still is – trying to protect from being exposed as irredeemably corrupt.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/30/howie-carr-muellers-hands-dirty-in-old-fbi-frame-up/
From Assemblyman James Gallagher.
NORTH STATE LAWMAKERS ANNOUNCE LEGISLATION TO COMBAT POWER SHUTOFFS
BUTTE COUNTY – To further protect their constituents, state lawmakers – Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) – who represent the Town of Paradise and #CampFire survivors, announced their intent to introduce legislation that will help prevent future wildfires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The lawmakers are authoring legislation to direct additional funding into utility infrastructure upgrades and forest fuel reduction projects – two of the leading factors in catastrophic wildfires and cited by PG&E in declaring PSPS events.
PG&E is currently spending roughly $2.4 billion annually to uphold a legislative mandate to buy renewable power. At the same time, the company spent only $1.5 billion to update its century old infrastructure in 2017. A century-old transmission tower was cited as the ignition source of the Camp Fire, and a utility tower reportedly may also be the source of the Kincade Fire currently burning in Sonoma.
The legislation by Nielsen and Gallagher will temporarily pause the state’s renewable power mandates until infrastructure and vegetation management conditions are improved. The legislation will require that savings from this temporary relief may only be used by Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) to harden the grid and reduce forest fuels. Also during this time, executive compensation at IOUs would be frozen and any proposed bonuses shall be put on hold.
“PG&E needs to get back to the basics of providing safe and reliable power,” said Gallagher. “There is no doubt that PG&E’s mismanagement is the primary culprit in these devastating fires and PSPS events. But policies coming out of the State Capitol that distract from these primary objectives only make matters worse.”
Senator Nielsen called the legislation a common-sense approach to help end power shutoff events and reduce fire risk. “We are not waiting ten years. No more power shutoffs. It needs to happen now,” said Nielsen. “Millions without electricity is what a third world country looks like, not a state that is the 5th largest economy in the world.”
California IOUs have already met their goals of reaching 33% renewable solar and wind energy and PG&E is already producing 85% of its power from renewable and carbon-free sources. The lawmakers noted that every dollar spent on the additional cost of renewable energy is one dollar that is not available to be spent on vegetation management, line insulation, undergrounding, and other grid-hardening measures.
“Dollars spent on forestry management have been found to do more to reduce carbon than other measures. Science shows that redirecting funding to forestry management gets us a better bang for our buck in carbon reduction,” added Gallagher.
The lawmakers will also be introducing a joint Resolution that will urge the federal bankruptcy court to rescind PG&E’s current high-cost renewable energy contracts. Reports show that some of PG&E’s pre-2012 solar contracts now cost the company an added $2.2 billion per year due to outdated above-market prices. These contracts could be voided in the bankruptcy to allow PG&E to buy the same renewable power at a lower price. Savings from renegotiating these bloated contracts could be used to invest in projects that reduce fire danger and future blackout events.
“Bankruptcy is typically a place to get out of bad contracts,” said Senator Nielsen. “Victims and ratepayers must be the priority. Our legislation is another opportunity to get back to the basics of providing safe and reliable power.”
The North State lawmakers noted that California is moving backward on its carbon reduction due to recent wildfires. Last year’s fires generated 45 million metric tons of carbon – more than nine times California’s combined reductions achieved in 2016 and 2017.
“California must get smarter about its climate goals. Century-old infrastructure, tinderbox forests and PSPS events are unacceptable. Renewable energy mandates that take away from addressing these issues while fires continue to burn are intolerable. With our plan, we can do better on carbon reduction and combatting catastrophic fire,” Gallagher concluded.
Nielsen and Gallagher will formally introduce the legislation when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Gray Davis was recalled over the hikes in DMV fees.
It CAN be done, although I don’t know it would help much since Demwits continue to rule the Lunkhead Legislature!
Show Nuissance the door!
https://recallnewsom.us
https://ranaf.org/
Politicians’ children being paid obscene amounts of money in order to buy influence is corrupt, and sadly typical on both sides of the aisle. Hunter Biden should not have taken this job. That said, there is no evidence that Biden’s role influenced the Obama administration’s position on Ukrainian politics at all. Joe Biden’s work to oust the Ukrainian prosecutor had bipartisan support in Congress and the support of all of our allies. The Ukrainian prosecutor was not investigating Burisma at the time, and if anything, getting the prosecutor fired for not investigating corruption may have been worse for Hunter Biden than simply keeping him in there. Again, Joe Biden was pursuing a legitimate foreign policy goal at the behest of the president, Congress, and our allies. President Trump, on the other hand, was working a political goal by trading military aid to Ukraine for an investigation into a form of “corruption” that he and his own kids have participated in! There is no case that this was done out of a genuine anti-corruption stance; Trump has actually moved to cut funding to fight corruption in Ukraine. Every sign points to the fact that this was Trump abusing his power by making US foreign policy contingent on what would benefit him personally and politically, rather than the national interest. That is impeachable.
This was supposed to be a response to Joe.
Again, Joe Biden was pursuing a legitimate foreign policy goal at the behest of the president….
While his son was making a fortune in the process. And since when is funneling hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to the cesspool of corruption that is Ukraine a “legitimate foreign policy goal?”
Once again, the Souzaphone is off key.
The out and out bull**** and rationalizations from Souza run pretty thick here. Sad, really, this desperate grasping at straws.
Perhaps this is the most amusing statement, “Again, Joe Biden was pursuing a legitimate foreign policy goal at the behest of the president, Congress, and our allies.”
How deep the corruption goes! Biden was directed by Obama, Congress and our allies to threaten to withold $1 billion in U.S. loans in order to get the Ukrainian government to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the corruption of a Ukrainian gas company that was paying Biden’s son $50,000 a month to sit on the board of directors.
So, not only was Obama behind this, but so was Congress and our allies!