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This is a bit like saying the 2020 Beirut explosion was 100% caused by the carelessly dropped cigarette (or whatever started the initial burn; nobody knows). W
by stickfigure 2y ago
This is a bit like saying the 2020 Beirut explosion was 100% caused by the carelessly dropped cigarette (or whatever started the initial burn; nobody knows).
Well yes, in the sense that someone somewhere did something that triggered the cascade of effects that produced the boom. But assigning "100% of the cause" to that individual just lets everyone else in the chain escape blame.
If it isn't PG&E this year, it will be something else next year. Or the year after that. Like the LNU complex, it could be simple lightning.
Which is not to say that PG&E doesn't bear some responsibility, but "100% of the cause" is too reductive.
- bradchris 2y agoBecause PG&E was the cause. If a lightening strike caused the fire, then that would be the cause. If a stray arsonist poured gasoline over the field and lit it all on fire, then the arsonist would be the cause. If it was teens lighting fireworks, then they would be the cause. But none of those things actually happened. PG&E’s equipment caught on fire because it couldn’t handle its normal electricity load anymore, because they delayed maintenance for years. There is no sense talking about all the things that “could” be the cause in some hypothetical future where PG&E hadn’t caused the fire that actually happened first. Because that would require PG&E to prevent the fire that actually happened, which they did not.
- thfuran 2y agoYou're ignoring the difference between a small brush fire and a massive wildfire that destroys towns. One doesn't necessarily lead to the other, and when it does, the reason isn't just that there was a spark.