... Also there seems to be evidence that the CA burns are greater due to climate change...
... I agree with Don: Welcome to climate change. ...
I'm no climate change denier, but I am highly skeptical of attributing cause-effect to these shutdowns and fires.
I did some searching, lots of weather almanac data for Northern CA, but so far I didn't find any in a convenient, digestible format. I think we need say, 100 years of
seasonal data, since it appears the fires are more an effect of the dry season rain than average annual? Annual averages might be misleading if you had a very wet season, then a very dry season that left the trees vulnerable? Seasonal rain, seasonal temperatures for 80~100 years? Maybe wind data? Anyone got that (I'll be out for a while)?
And maybe the data needs to be from the areas where the power lines are at risk? In a coastal area, climate can change pretty significantly in a few hundred miles.
PG&E has been known colloquially as Pacific Graft and Extortion since the 1940's or earlier. ...
A PG&E gas line up in San Bruno that had been scheduled for a replacement that was not done blew up in a residential neighborhood back in 2010. Eight people were killed. It's well known that the vegetation trimming is years behind schedule. ...
Well, this is a regulated utility right? Where were the regulators (I assume that's the State of CA?)? There's been talk (I will try to find a good source of data later if no one beats me to it), that it was the regulators limiting the amount of maintenance that can be done (environmental issues with clear cutting the trees?).
I'll wait for the data, but Occam is whispering to me that this has far, far more to do with the management of power lines than climate change.
... Also there seems to be evidence that the CA burns are greater due to climate change which is less CA's fault than other locations. CA has done more to push emission controls than others haven't they?
Even if I were to say 'yes' to your thinking that CA has done more to push emissions controls than others, is there any evidence at all that that would have any effect on the outcomes? I think we can all look to China for that, with all their added coal plants. Do people from CA buy any products made in China? And with their population, they buy a lot.
-ERD50