Ah, California. The Golden State.
Actually, the not-so-golden state. More like the People’s Republic of California. And now the PRC is about to cut off power to one million Californians in an effort to avoid even more wildfires. How ’bout a round of applause for Cali’s hapless governor, Gavin Newsom?
That’s right, Californ-I-A residents, your state is planning to cut power to residents across 38 counties – affecting nearly a million people – as extreme “fire weather” threatens the region. Again. As reported by Fox News.
A Pacific Gas & Electric spokesperson told Fox that the PSPS — Public Safety Power Shutoffs — are expected to happen as early as Sunday morning, due to “the strongest offshore wind event of the season.” “We’re seeing a dangerous combination of factors, with high winds, extreme low humidity, record dry fuels on the ground, and extreme-to-severe drought in many areas, said Lynsey Paulo.
The shutoffs may last into Tuesday, falling in-line with a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service. Conditions will pose an “increased risk of damage” to electrical systems.
As Fox reported, Red Flag Warning conditions can include wind gusts up to 35 mph, which could whip sparks through miles of brush and forestland — which could result in devastating wildfires. On the flip-side, even a couple of days without power can mean a live-or-die difference for small businesses already suffering from Newsom’s draconian COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions, as reported by RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar.
According to PG&E, planned power outages are expected to include parts of the Sacramento Valley, the northern and central Sierra Nevada, the Santa Cruz mountains, and most of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Weather Service reported that the conditions could equal those during devastating fires in California’s wine country in 2017 and last year’s Kincade Fire. Scott Strenfel, PG&E’s chief meteorologist, described current conditions as “extremely dangerous.”
“We’re seeing […] extremely high winds, extremely low humidity, extreme dry fuels due to the hottest average temperatures over the last six months, according to records that go back 126 years, and extreme drought across the territory given lack of rainfall.”
As Fox noted, California is already dealing with a record-breaking wildfire season, with firefighters currently working across the state to contain 19 wildfires.
Here’s the thing.
As destructive as Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democrat-controlled California State Assembly are, not even they have the ability to create extreme “fire weather” conditions. BUT —they, along with tree huggers and various activist conservation groups, can certainly get in the way of effective forest management — and have done so for years.
