Jerry Brown and the California Wildfires

It seems Jerry Brown may bear some responsibility for the wildfires that have been wreaking havoc in California:

A year ago, a bipartisan bill aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires from overhead electrical lines went to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

Brown, whose sister sits on the board of energy services holding company Sempra, vetoed the bill, which would have cost power companies money.

The author of the measure — passed unanimously by both houses of the Legislature — now says the governor missed out on a chance to tackle one of his state’s longstanding vulnerabilities: massive wildfires endangering residential communities.

We don’t know that power lines were responsible for the many lives lost (at least 31 and counting) and thousands of homes destroyed. However,

Cal Fire said that investigators have started looking into whether toppled power wires and exploding transformers Sunday night may have ignited the simultaneous string of blazes.

The acknowledgment followed publication of a review by the Bay Area News Group of Sonoma County firefighters’ radio transmissions in the fires’ infancy that found that there were numerous downed and arcing wires. In the first 90 minutes Sunday night, firefighters were sent to 10 different spots where problems had been reported with the area’s electrical infrastructure. The crews reported seeing sparking lines and transformers.

During that same time period, radio transmissions indicate 28 blazes — both vegetation and structure fires — breaking out, mostly in Sonoma County.

Too bad Governor Moonbeam didn’t sign this bill, instead of the one authorizing prison time for people who refuse to refer to the sexually deranged by biologically inaccurate pronouns, or the one that made it no longer a felony to deliberately spread HIV. But people get the government they ask for, and Californians asked for Jerry Brown. By now, everyone knows exactly what kind of kooky irresponsibility that entails.

On a tip from Kevin R. Hat tip: Watts Up With That?