Chris White Tech Reporter
October 23, 2019 6:29 PM ET
ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten suggested California’s rolling blackouts contain one silver lining: It highlights for people the gravity that awaits them if climate change is not addressed.
California’s largest public utility’s decision to shutter large sections of the energy grid forces citizens to notice what things will be like if climate change is not addressed, Lustgarten noted in a New York Times Magazine editorial Tuesday. He did remember to emphasize the blackouts are bad for a lot of people.
“But a mandatory blackout does have one radically positive effect,” he wrote. “By suddenly withdrawing electrical power — the invisible lifeblood of our unsustainable economic order — PG&E has made the apocalyptic future of the climate crisis immediate and visceral for some of the nation’s most comfortable people.”
Lustgarten added: “It is easy to ignore climate change in the bosom of the developed world. But you can’t fail to notice when the lights go out.” (RELATED: What Do Rolling Blackouts And Sky-High Gas Prices Mean For Gov Newsom’s Job As Governor?)
“The blackouts have laid bare the uncomfortable fact that the infrastructure we’ve built and maintained over the course of many decades isn’t matched to the threats we face in our rapidly unfolding climate emergency,” he noted.
Lustgarten’s comments came after California’s public utility Pacific Gas & Electric began a days-long power shutoff on Oct.9 to curb the risk of wildfires in the northern part of the state. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, is dealing with several problems as he struggles with PG&E’s move.
Power went out for 513,000 northern California homes and businesses Wednesday morning, USA Today reported, and roughly 234,000 customers were expected to lose power later Wednesday night. Parts of Northern California struggled to deal with massive wildfires in 2018, which torched large tracks of land and killed several people.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
What are they complaining about? This is what they wanted. Shutting down those evil CO2-producing power plants was the goal. PG&E just advanced the timetable a bit. Californians should embrace the suck and just keep the power off. No better time than now, right? Think of the polar bears and the bees. Sure, there will be an adjustment period. The old and very young will probably die, especially with winter coming on. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Quitters never win, and winners never quit. There will probably be some rioting, maybe some looting, a tiny bit of arson. A wee squib of murder and rape. But you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette, and it’ll probably be over quickly. And then it’ll be paradise on earth. Just think: No more cars polluting the air, no more loud air conditioners polluting the silence at night, no more factories belching noxious chemicals into the atmosphere, no more crammed emergency rooms, no more rude cashiers at supermarkets, no more long lines at Starbucks. It’ll be swell!
visceral
/ˈvɪs(ə)r(ə)l/
adjective
relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect.
“the voters’ visceral fear of change”
One Silver lining of CA blackouts:
Is California will stop being the largest state in the Union and the world’s sixth largest economy.
the caustic lining:
The bad effect will be all the Californians that transplant to other states and take the their misguided form of government all the time to the other states.
I am really hoping for a rephrasing of, “Solution to pollution is dilution.” in political ideological terms. But we all know Hoping is Audacious….