WP/C_A Article about CA wildfires.
Gov. Brown going after PG&E.
Never let a disaster go to waste.
We know they want Federal Money.
What else do they want?
As wildfires rage, California frets over a future of greater perils and higher costs
Smoke from the Carr Fire hovers over Northern California, including the state capital, Sacramento, providing a dramatic backdrop for one of the most consequential policy debates in years — about who should pay for the growing number of increasingly destructive fires, now and in a hotter, drier future.
The election-year debate reflects a change in focus, from the long-term to the immediate, for a state that has been at the leading edge of environmental regulation. As wildfires become a year-round threat, California is moving to change long-standing laws to address the emergency of climate change, with the interests of those fighting, suffering from and paying for the fires in the balance.
The question before state lawmakers is whether public utilities should remain “strictly liable” for damage from fires that start because of their equipment, even if the utilities are not negligent. The largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, faces costs that could reach $12 billion for its role in last year’s deadly Northern California fires. Company officials say they cannot continue to afford the escalating payouts.
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