Footnotes From the Archives News in Brief California Passes a $21 Billion Wildfire Victims’ Fund to Protect Utilities From Damage Claims California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law Friday, changing how the state will pay for wildfire damage. Maxine Speier
Environment California’s Largest Utility Resorts to Blackouts to Prevent Wildfires Outages were intended to be a last resort in PG&E's wildfire mitigation plan, but it has already used them twice during the first weekend of California's wildfire season. Kate Wheeling
News in Brief Californians Will See the Costs of Climate Change in Their Electric Bills Citing growing wildfire risk, the state's private utilities are attempting to increase their rates significantly. Emily Moon
Economics Could California Take Public Ownership of PG&E? The debate around private ownership of essential utilities is becoming a national issue. Alexander Sammon
Environment When Climate Change Hurts Companies Like PG&E, Consumers End Up Paying the Price Unless we change the way we hold corporations liable for their emissions, the costs of climate change will continue to burden the public. Sharon Zhang
Environment News in Brief PG&E Didn’t Start the Fire—This Time. But Human-Caused Fires Are on the Rise. The combination of a warming planet and rapid urbanization near wildlands has provided kindling with a spark. Emily Moon
Key Takeaways News in Brief As PG&E Files for Bankruptcy, Who Is Liable for California’s Wildfires? Climate change and development have undoubtedly increased fire risk in California, but if utilities don't pay the damages, someone else will. Emily Moon