Business World Set to Lose 1 Trillion to Climate Change

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

https://www.wired.com/story/companies-expect-climate-change-to-cost-them-one-trillion-dollars-in-5-years/

Well, that's what planning ahead is for. It's not like climate change started last year, after all, and the weather was constant until then.

[Rodent + 1,424]

15 hours ago, Marina Schwarz said:

https://www.wired.com/story/companies-expect-climate-change-to-cost-them-one-trillion-dollars-in-5-years/

Well, that's what planning ahead is for. It's not like climate change started last year, after all, and the weather was constant until then.

How can PG&E be liable if it was in fact climate change's fault? Sigh. I guess people use whatever argument works in the moment. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 hour ago, Rodent said:

How can PG&E be liable if it was in fact climate change's fault? Sigh. I guess people use whatever argument works in the moment. 

This is straight "tort law," where if what you do causes harms or losses or injuries to another, you are held liable.  PG&E ran their power cables on above-ground poles or towers, and those lines sagged under the current loads, contacted the tinder-dry brush, and started the fires.  That part is undisputed.  If your equipment starts fires and those fires burn down whole towns, then you have a financial problem. Given the billions involved, it was both logical and inescapable that PG&E would file for protection from creditors and litigants under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act.  

The only possible issue would be to attempt to argue that the cable sags or breaks that started the fires were the result of an unforeseeable event, what courts term an "act of God."  Hard to make that claim in this case.  The wire-stringing is a mature technology; the risks are well understood.  Just guessing, I suspect they used aluminum wires which were uninsulated, so that when they failed or sagged, there was direct contact with the earth, and sparks and fires resulted.  Ouch.