Sierra Club California, with the help of Redwood Chapter’s Forest Committee chair, Jeanne Wetzel Chinn, has released a white paper analyzing PG&E’s “fire management” actions in the wake of wildfires across the state.
California’s fire season has become year-round. It is now common to have hot, dry weather that includes strong winds at any season. These winds knock down electrical infrastructure, causing sparks to fly into dry vegetation and spreading fires that are spurred and amplified by these winds. Note that it is the highly antiquated PG&E infrastructure that is the ignition driver. Updated infrastructure, even if knocked down by a branch or tree, would not automatically start a fire. Trees are not the culprit!
The white paper, entitled “The Harmful Effects of PG&E’s Tree Removal Practices and Recommended Alternatives to Prevent Utility Wildfires,” was drafted by Sierra Club’s Utility Wildfire Prevention Taskforce, and opens with the line: “Power utility safety must be a top priority for PG&E.”
“Faced with lawsuits, legislative action, and bankruptcy, PG&E still fails to confront the emergency nature of improving its antiquated infrastructure. There are five primary issues that cause this problem: lack of circuit safety, incursion onto private lands, a vague definition of Hazard/Danger trees, arborist non-qualifications, and misleading influence,” the paper states.
The paper goes on to state many ways that the utility company, which is the largest in the state of California, has not upgraded its infrastructure to incorporate modern technology and materials that withstand high winds and automatically cut power to avoid creating fires.
In addition, the paper outlines ways that PG&E has encroached upon landowners’ rights by removing, and continuing to remove, trees that should be left alone. The utility has labeled trees as the main problem in fueling these wildfires rather than taking responsibility for improving its infrastructure and bringing it up to modern standards.
In a time when climate change is barreling down on us and the threat of fire is leaving a lasting trauma in our lives, it is important to insist that this very powerful utility company be held accountable for upgrading its infrastructure while maintaining as much healthy forest as possible.
The paper states: “For decades PG&E has endeavored to influence public opinion and affect legislation towards tree removal rather than upgrade utility infrastructure. Blaming the problem on the trees gained acceptance as PG&E sought to limit its liability and expenses while paying its shareholders.”
The authors provide solutions to the problem including:
- Infrastructure improvements, including undergrounding wires where possible;
- Forcing PG&E to adhere to current laws that give property owners not only the right to oversee and participate in the work being done on their land, but also the right to forbid the removal of trees;
- Creating a uniform definition of hazard trees applicable to all agencies and utilities that protects forests, heritage trees and habitat;
- Requiring specific training and education for arborists who are working on classifying trees to be removed; and
- Installing a court-issued mandate to require PG&E to upgrade its infrastructure to “fail safe” conditions, and make tree cutting a secondary measure.
The paper concludes that PG&E is causing “extensive environmental damage to public and private lands” and calls on the state to take swift and bold action to adjust the framing and scope of PG&E’s misguided solutions.
Read the full white paper here