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  1. Rewind is offline
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    Joined: Oct 2017 Location: Glendale CA Posts: 12,045
    12-14-2018, 08:08 PM #251
    California has the sixth-highest electricy rates in the nation. (Hawai'i has the highest; Louisiana has the lowest.) If PG&E gets its way, they'll go even higher. A proposed rate hike would go to upgrading equipment, installing stronger power poles and lines and installing video cameras to monitor for problems in fire-prone areas. Yeah, that's fine -- but none of that will prevent fires caused by arson or lightning strikes.

    PG&E proposes nearly $2 billion in rate hikes to bolster wildfire precautions

    https://ktla.com/2018/12/14/after-no...r-precautions/

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    Joined: Oct 2017 Location: Glendale CA Posts: 12,045
    12-22-2018, 06:08 PM #252
    Zoele Mickey Skinner was born on December 12. Her middle name honors Mickey Huber, the paramedic who saved the life of her mother, who had gone into premature labor while attempting to flee last month's deadly Camp fire in the town of Paradise. The premature labor was triggered by smoke inhalation. The baby was born full-term and is doing fine. Merry Christmas, Zoele!

    Woman names baby after medic who saved her during wildfire

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ldfire-n951231

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    01-06-2019, 02:35 AM #253
    Many thousands of Californians are now drinking bottled water because the recent wildfires contaminated local water supplies and nobody wants to ingest ash, mercury, benzene and cryptosporidia. It may be many months before lakes, reservoirs and municipal water systems are free of toxins and parasites.

    After the fire: Blazes pose hidden threat to the West's drinking water
    NBC News, Jan 5 2019 4:09 AM

    Not all fire damage is visible to the eye. As more people build homes in fire-prone areas, and as climate change and other factors increase the frequency of fires, there is a growing risk to life and property throughout the West — and a lesser known risk to the region's already endangered water supply. At least 65% of the public water supply in the Western US comes from fire-prone areas. Blazes such as the 2017 Tubb Fire and 2018's massive Camp and Carr wildfires can expose the drinking water for millions of people to the risk of contamination by ash, sediment, toxic chemicals and parasites.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...-water-n954806

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    01-10-2019, 04:40 PM #254
    Here is another idiotic message from the Tweeter-In-Chief who can't spell, who doesn't understand capitalization, who hates California and who continues to mistakenly blame wildfires on "poor forest management":

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest fires that, with proper Forrest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely. I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!
    7:25 AM - Jan 9, 2019

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    01-10-2019, 05:08 PM #255
    An editorial in today's Los Angeles Times assails the uninformed, authoritarian "bully" in the White House:

    Trump's 'forrest' mismanagement threats are as disturbingly uninformed as they are authoritarian

    In between his threats to keep the government shut for months or years if Congress refuses to fund his border wall, President Trump made time Wednesday morning to threaten to cut off disaster relief dollars to Californians whose homes were charred by wildfires last year. After complaining for the umpteenth time about the way the state manages its forests, Trump tweeted, "Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money."

    The threat is probably no more serious than it was the last time Trump uttered it. He has frequently shaken his fist at California — over its immigration policies in particular — and has rarely followed through. Still, Trump's response to the fires, like his response to congressional Democrats' refusal to waste billions of dollars on a bigger, longer border wall, reflects his disturbingly authoritarian view of the Presidency.

    Stung by criticism from California's Democratic leaders, Trump is proclaiming his intention to ignore the federal law governing disaster assistance and simply turn off the spigot of federal dollars. Frustrated that lawmakers won't fund his pet project at the border, Trump threatens to declare a national emergency so he can ignore the will of Congress and spend the money anyway.

    What’s especially galling about Wednesday's sniping was Trump's willful ignorance about the nature of California's wildfire problem. California is, in fact, getting its "act together," moving to spend $1 billion over five years to reduce fire risk and better prepare communities for the larger, more destructive fires driven, in part, by climate change. Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday called for even more money — an additional $100 million this year — to help accelerate the thinning of dry, dense forests and brush.

    Some 60% of California's forests are on federal land, however, and as Newsom points out, the US Forest Service budget has been cut by more than $2 billion since 2016. Instead of properly funding fire prevention on federal lands, where some of the most destructive fires in the state’s history have raged, Trump has repeatedly railed against the "gross mismanagement" of forests in California — whatever that's supposed to mean. Trump is myopically focused on forests when some of California's largest fires have been in the brush and grasslands.

    But such details apparently mean nothing to Trump. California leaders have dared to question his decisions and challenge his demands, therefore — in the World According to Trump — they do not deserve his government’s support. Never mind that thousands of Californians have lost their homes and businesses and are relying on federal assistance to rebuild their lives. Even if he doesn't carry out his threats, the fact that he would make them tells you a lot about the man who seeks to use the tremendous power of his office not to unite people, but to bully them into submission.

    https://www.latimes.com/opinion/edit...110-story.html

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    01-12-2019, 11:53 PM #256
    Last November's Camp fire in northern California burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,804 homes and buildings and left 86 people dead. It resulted in $16.5 billion in losses, making it the most destructive wildfire in world history.

    California's Camp fire was the world's costliest disaster in 2018, insurance report shows

    https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...111-story.html

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    01-24-2019, 09:11 PM #257
    Ron Howard progressed from Opie Taylor, Steve Bolander and Richie Cunningham to Academy Award-winning movie director (Cocoon, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, Frost/Nixon). His newest project is a documentary about the destruction in, and rebuilding of, the northern California city of Paradise, most of which was reduced to rubble and ashes by last November's Camp fire. By the way, state fire officials still have not determined the origin of the fire but they are investigating PG&E electrical equipment near the small town of Pulga. Stay tuned.

    Ron Howard to make documentary about California town devastated by wildfires

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/new...res/ar-BBSHpeW

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    01-24-2019, 11:12 PM #258
    Well, we now know the cause of one of last year's wildfires in California. Cal Fire gave few details but KFI reported today the power lines that sparked the Tubbs fire were privately owned and provided electricity from a generator to a homeowner's hot tub and wine cellar.

    Private power lines caused deadly wine country fire, state says
    Los Angeles Times, Jan 24 2019 4:00 PM

    The 2017 fire that killed 22 people and destroyed thousands of homes in Santa Rosa was caused by private power lines, not ones owned by utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric, a long-awaited state investigation released today concluded. The finding by Cal Fire marks a bit of good news for the struggling utility as it prepares to file for bankruptcy due to huge potential liabilities related to last year’s Camp fire, which destroyed more than 90% of the town of Paradise and killed at least 86 people.

    PG&E’s electrical systems were found responsible for numerous destructive Northern California fires in recent years. In many cases, heavy winds downed power lines that sparked the blazes. Cal Fire released few details about the source of the Tubbs fire, saying only that it was caused by "a private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure." The fire agency also said it found no violations of state law related to the blaze.

    https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...124-story.html

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    01-28-2019, 05:31 PM #259
    California has more than 250,000 miles of power lines and thousands of small fires have been caused by downed power lines or by power lines igniting vegetation. It would cost billions of dollars to put all the power lines underground but we should consider doing so.

    California utility equipment sparked more than 2,000 fires in three and a half years

    https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-...128-story.html

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    01-29-2019, 08:48 PM #260
    Thousands of California homes were destroyed by last year's huge wildfires. Can things get any worse for the people who lost their homes? Yes. In the past four years, more than 2,000 small fires have been sparked by utility company equipment -- and ultimately the utility customers will wind up paying the companies' legal bills.

    PG&E files for bankruptcy. Here's why that could mean higher electricity bills.
    Los Angeles Times, Jan 29 2019 2:50 PM

    Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s largest electric utility, filed for bankruptcy protection today in anticipation of huge legal claims, starting an unpredictable process that could take years to resolve and is likely to result in higher energy bills for the millions of Californians who depend on for power. PG&E said a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which allows the company to continue operating while it comes up with a plan to pay its debts, was the only way to deal with billions of dollars in potential liabilities from a series of deadly wildfires, many of which were sparked by the company's power grid infrastructure.

    Energy experts say PG&E's rates probably will increase when the utility emerges from Chapter 11 protection because bankruptcy inevitably makes it more expensive for a company to borrow money and creates large legal and other bankruptcy-related costs. The utility passes such expenses along to its customers.

    https://www.latimes.com/business/la-...129-story.html

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